Natalie Czech

Natalie Czech’s (DE 1976) conceptual photography literally “curates” existing images and texts, placing them in a dialogue with each other. Subtly adapting aspects of Pop Art and Conceptual Art, Natalie Czech’s new series „to [icon]“ plays tongue-in-cheek with the “iconic turn” of our society. Czech’s humorous directness in combination with poetic language games reminds one of arthistorical precursors like the Pop Art sculptures of Claes Oldenburg or the conceptual text-space pieces of Robert Barry. In the “to [icon]” series, Natalie Czech discovers a “second image” in her photographed objects, which she makes visible and readable by means of a colored plastic form attached to the photo. The photograph thus becomes an object. The embedded images show icons used in various computer programs, on user interfaces or websites to visualize specific applications. The meaning of one and the same icon can vary depending on the context. Natalie Czech adapts these various meanings and places them in poetic sequences which appear as „poetry labels“ in the photographs and unfold a dialogue with the respective motifs.

Submitted by Kadel Willborn