Adam Schreiber: Stadtwald

Adam Schreiber: Stadtwald

Jul 7–Sep 3, 2023

Adam Schreiber’s solo exhibition, Stadtwald, features photographs made during his time in residence at Künstlerhaus Bethanien as a grantee of Contemporary’s Berlin Residency Program and since his return. Berlin is a city where the pleasures and benefits of walking can be experienced by all, as it is the preferred mode of transportation. One can also stumble into lush woods, historical monuments, hundreds of years of architecture, and a variety of very specific and odd collections in a single walk. Adam Schreiber, whose methodology is akin to the photographic surveyor, found a niche here. Schreiber is not solely a surveyor because of his use of large format film cameras, but the way he utilizes the medium to gather and document. His architectural and street images survey seemingly forgotten or insignificant corners of the city. These scenes are quiet, devoid of action, and suspended. His photographs of singular and grouped objects hold an equally perplexing tone. By isolating and decontextualizing objects, Schreiber ignites the viewers curiosity, wondering, “what are these things and why are they recorded?” The exchange is reminiscent of sifting through an archive and attempting to decode the intentions behind the inclusion of various photographs and documents. Grids are a reoccurring device in Schreiber’s images, perhaps a mirroring of the ground glass of the artist’s camera, implying that order and the work of inspection is afoot. In rendering his subjects as unknown–by making pictures which both describe and obscure–Schreiber’s work engages the viewer in the labor of concentration. But this is the labor of being curious, more a game than an unsolvable equation.