In this exhibition, which explores the relationship between the French photographer’s artistic work and her applied, commercial work, three series are being shown for the first time worldwide. A catalogue will appear to accompany the exhibition published by Schirmer/Mosel including an essay from renowned French art critic Prof. Philippe Dagen.

In her opulently colorful series, Bettina Rheims deconstructs prevailing images of beauty and glamour, revealing the wounds underneath. The women seem imperfect and at the same time vulnerable, yet – and this is decisive – confident and in control, even in all their vulnerability. This tension gives rise to an intense fascination. Bettina Rheims does not portray the women before the camera alone; rather, the subjects portray themselves. This allows a free space for experimentation to emerge between the artificial poses and parodies that leads – despite the high-gloss aesthetic – to authenticity. She constructs her images by orchestrating and perverting stereotypes from painting, cinema, and advertizing. Ultimately, her photographs revolve around the truth that lies in the theatrically staged scene, as well as the proprietorial relationship the human body established in the photographic act, raising the question: how powerful is the photographer, how autonomous the individual?