Architecture of Absence

Candida Höfer creates meticulously composed images of public and institutional spaces marked with the richness of human activity, yet largely devoid of human presence. Whether a photograph of a national library or a lounge at Volkswagen’s headquarters, Höfer’s images ask us to conduct distanced, disengaged examinations through the windows she creates. The collected images present a universe wholly constructed by human intention, unearthing patterns of order and logic imposed on these spaces by their absent creators and inhabitants. The Architecture of Absence examines Höfer’s oeuvre and its relationship to the work of other noted students of renowned professors Bernd and Hilla Becher.

Candida Höfer studied photography under Bernd Becher from 1976 until 1982. Since 1975 she has had solo exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout Europe and the United States, including the Hamburger Kunsthalle, Germany; the Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland; the Centre Photographique d’Ile de France; Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco; Johnen & Schottle, Cologne; and Sonnabend Gallery, New York.