Jens Komossa by Basil Galloway, komossa.tv, 2007-04-20
Jens Komossa is an international artist working in Berlin and New York who has exhibited in Germany, England, France, and Holland, at art fairs including Paris Photo, Art Cologne, and the London Art Fair. He has “set out to discover the Berlin night, by presenting its light and deserted rooms,” (Michael Simbruk, Berlin Profil) using a long-exposure technique that allows “hues to achieve an astonishing richness,” and in which “isolated stretches of ceilings or walls become fields of color and texture.” (David Galloway, ARTNews) The technique of long-exposure by low light creates intense images that exist only through the medium of his photography. Jens Komossa began experimenting with televisions as the light sources by which his rooms would be lit, fascinated by the idea that a room could be not only formed by the cultural influence emanating from the television, but also directly illuminated by the very same light. Private rooms become reflections of their inhabitants for Komossa, and he sees them as the stages on which our lives play out. A picture from this series was used as the poster for the 38th annual Grimme Institute television awards. His long-exposure technique has earned him praise not only for his almost sociological representation of the modern condition, but for capturing a sense of temporality rarely achieved in photography.
Basil Galloway