Maureen Paley is pleased to present a joint exhibition of works by James Welling and Bernd & Hilla Becher. This will be the fifth presentation of Welling at the gallery and our first exhibition including the Bechers with kind assistance from Sprüth Magers and Max Becher.
Though the Bechers began their practice in the 1960s—preceding Welling by a decade – each artist has pushed at the medium of photography in their representation of architecture. Welling first saw photographs by the Bechers at the seminal 1970 MoMA exhibition, Information, and he met Hilla Becher three years later whilst studying at CalArts. In 2022, following the Bechers’ retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Welling reflected on their work in an essay he wrote for the Brooklyn Rail, reaffirming his long-standing admiration for their “pursuit of a singular photographic dream.”1
James Welling is known for his work that considers the history and technical specificities of photography. Since 2023, Welling has worked on his Thought Objects, in which he experiments with exaggerated “unsharp masks”, a common set of image sharpening tools that are often imperceptible. Welling instead modifies these unsharp masks to produce halos, exaggerated bas-relief effects, and intensified saturation, underscoring the fluidity and malleability of photographic images.
The works here are drawn from Breuer, a series that can be viewed as a “chapter” within the Thought Objects and depict buildings by Brutalist architect Marcel Breuer. “In these photographs, I respectfully and consciously worked against certain principles the Bechers employed—depict the whole building and present multiple views. Instead, I show details, partial views, and interiors. What I tried to suggest with these partial views was the feeling that all the individual work of an architect can be linked together to form, via my photographs, a single mega-work that spans time, location and materials.”2
The German artist duo Bernd and Hilla Becher began their programme of methodically photographing disappearing industrial structures in 1957. Over five decades, the Bechers captured water towers, gas tanks, blast furnaces, and other functional buildings, primarily in Europe and North America. Their work can be read as an elaborate anthropological project devoted to documenting the architecture of various locations and industries, once the key engines of modernity.
“The Bechers’ sensitivity to the perils of extinction reminds me of bird watchers. Like serious birders, they were always on the lookout for fresh industrial specimens and when they saw one, they would carefully note the location and return later to photograph it.”
—Welling, 20223
The duo consistently photographed their subjects under overcast skies to avoid shadows and employed a large-format camera for detail, a point of difference from Welling who works across seasonal conditions. The depth of focus in the Bechers’ pictures exceeds what the human eye is capable of, ensuring that every architectural rivet is clearly visible. This approach highlights their desire to reduce subjectivity, positioning these utilitarian objects as subjects of contemplation, challenging viewers to reconsider the aesthetic and historical significance of these structures.
“As a photographer, I see the pleasure they took in their work… For all the formality of the Bechers’ work we have seen how it could engage different modalities and meanings—portraiture, graphic design, preservation, humour.”
—Welling, 20224
This exhibition provides a unique opportunity to see these artists’ works in conversation in London.
at Maureen Paley, London
until April 19, 2025
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