Born in 1959 in Winterthur and trained as an architect, Georg Aerni has, in parallel to his work as an architectural photographer, produced a comprehensive artistic oeuvre. The exhibition at Fotostiftung Schweiz focuses on the works he has produced since 2011 and shows Aerni’s oeuvre as a significant position within contemporary Swiss photography.

In a consistent continuation of his earlier work, Georg Aerni sheds light on the interfaces between culture and nature, examines urban spaces’ language of signs, or devotes himself to the metamorphoses of landscapes and structures. His more recent works also revolve around issues regarding ecology and sustainability, for instance in impressive photographic essays on southern Spain’s gigantic stretches of land completely covered by greenhouses, or on wildly sprawling residential developments in Cairo. Discreetly, without pointing a moralising finger, and sometimes with an ironic undertone, Georg Aerni addresses the use of natural resources, land and topography, or the transience of structures built to last for eternity. However, his photographs of eroding rock faces, waterfalls frozen to ice, or temporary driftwood sculptures also become metaphors for permanent change. With a strictly documentary approach, he succeeds in rousing curiosity and imagination, or in bringing to mind the passage of time via surreal poetry.

The exhibition was supported by the foundation Ars Rhenia, which promotes art and culture on a transregional basis.

Exhibition leaflet