Margret Hoppe Photography

Collage of works and publications by Margret Hoppe

24 Archival Inkjet Prints, 42 x 56 cm, Wall texts, Poems

The work “The Memory of Stones” traces the footsteps of what is absent and erased. Through photographs (Margret Hoppe) and texts (Karoline Mueller-Stahl), the two artists explore the possibilities of memory. What can we see when everything has been destroyed? What happened on ordinary streets, in public squares, and in entire neighborhoods? Where were the places of Jewish life? What can be remembered when almost everything has been completely erased and only a few people remain who can give voice to these stone fragments? The black-and-white photographs of seemingly everyday places were taken in the harsh light of the midday sun. Through this method, their aesthetics rely on a language of contrast. This decision reminds us that the Nazis’ recruitment of forced laborers took place on July 11, 1942—the “Black Shabbat”— in the midday heat of a summer day.
The texts are concentrated linguistic images and quotations. They aim to open minds and inspire questions. They deal with perception, memory, religious questions, and specific historical events. Written in German and English, they recall the multilingualism of Thessaloniki, which existed throughout the period of the Ottoman Empire (1430–1912) and gradually declined in the 20th century.

Series of 13 C-Prints, 70 x 60 cm, framed behind glass, 1 C-Print behind acrylic, 130 x 110 cm, 3 C-Prints, 24 x 30 cm,
1 photography by Lucia Moholy, 1 photography by Benjamin Subtil

Margret Hoppe was a resident artist at the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation in 2024. The conceptual starting point of her photographic work was the examination of duplications. In addition to the Muche | Schlemmer House – where the artists in residence live and work – two reference images of the Masters’ Houses form the framework: a photograph by Lucia Moholy and a two-part image by photographer Benjamin Subtil. In correspondence with the Masters’ Houses, in each of which one half of the building is rotated 90 degrees, Hoppe has also rotated the back of the camera 90 degrees, creating double exposures. In her twelve-part series, Hoppe forms pairs. This happens through the double exposure in the pictures themselves or through similarities and neighbourhoods between the shots. At the same time, these pairs are repeatedly uncoupled by single images (unpair).

Text by Barbara Steiner, director Bauhaus Dessau Foundation

This series was created during a residency at House Muche, Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, supported by Dessau Masters’ Houses Foundation

For the photographic series ‘Mono-Parents’, I have been photographing single-parent families since 2021. These are single-parent families where the father or mother is absent. Mono comes from the Greek and means: only or alone. In French, single parents are called ‘monoparental’.

The Ministry for Family Affairs writes: ‘In Germany, there are more than eight million families with underage children. Of these, 18 per cent are single parents, i.e. mothers or fathers who live alone with their children in the household. Between 1996 and 2021, the number of single parents with underage children rose from 1.3 million to just under 1.5 million. Of the approximately 13 million children under the age of 18, 18 per cent now live with one parent in the household. In nine out of ten cases, this is the mother.’

These are families in which one parent is solely responsible for the care, education and upbringing of the children, rather than the alternating model. Most of the families photographed live in the city of Leipzig, where I also live and work with my 6-year-old son.

With my pictures, I show a family model that is still not considered socially acceptable, in which parents often receive little support and understanding, and which many people in our society do not recognise as a family model. Being a single parent often means a great challenge for children and parents, often a life in precarious circumstances and a double burden for the single parent. Nevertheless, I perceive the families I photograph as strong, independent, reflective and self-confident.

Series of 20 Archival Inkjet Prints, 40 x 50 cm, Framed behind Glas,
18 C-Prints, different sizes, 18 Offset Prints, 42 x 30 cm

During the Second World War the southern front (Südwall) was established from the Spanish to the Italian boarder around the coastline of Marseille. It served the German Wehrmacht, who occupied the area from 1943, as a line of defense against the allies. Until today, one can see remnants from military bunkers and forts in Marseille, on the white rocky coast of the Calanques and on the surrounding islands like the Iles du Frioul. In contrast to the bunkers in Brittany and Normandie the history of the southern front (Südwall) is not well known. For my series I am photographing these bunkers and forts which are through their material and their concrete color integrated in the rocky landscape of the coast. If they were not covered with colorful lines, letters and faces of grafﬁti, one could say they are camouﬂaged into the landscape, like soldiers who wear camouﬂage patterns of nature that protect them from being discovered. When Paul Virilio photographed the blockhouses of the North Atlantic coast for his Bunker Archeology project, he was interested in studying the different forms of bunkers and developed a typology of these fortiﬁcations. His black and white photographs show us the shape of the bunker from different perspectives like a medical examination where he compares different bodies. “These buildings are no longer just receptacles but binnacles, which is what distinguishes them from ordinary architecture and what gives them this anthropomorphic character. There is here a close relationship between the function of the arm and that of the eye.“ (Virilio, Bunker Archeology, P.43) In contrast to Virilio I´m not interested in a study of anthropomorphic forms, i am interested in the form of the landscape as an environment of bunkers, because through their stony characteristic they become the landscape. In addition to the photographs of the bunkers I made images of the plants and the rocky coast of the Calanques. The coast by itself is a wall, a post of defense that separates the sea from the land. In this way the word Südwall stands not only for the bunkers and fortresses but also for the rocks of the mediterranean coast. At the edge of the streets and former military paths grow agave plants in the dry earth. The word agave is in its origins greek and means sublime or noble. Also the agave is a century plant because it ﬂowers only once in its life and this can take decades. Actually the agave is a migrant plant because it grows originally only in South and NorthAmerica. When I photographed the plant it reminded me of a gun or sword because at the end of its leaves there are thorns for protection. In the harsh landscape the agave resists the wind and sun. The Südwall has changed over the decades from a fortress into a landscape where the traces of the Second World War are visible, in ruins and architectural relicts. The man made wall has turned into a natural structure. Nature and architecture come together and seam to be made of one material. Some bunkers were later transformed into homes where people now live. In one image one can see a stone memorial that reminds us of the victims of war – three resistance ﬁghters that died at a young age. In this picture three persons appear, who are only present through their names: Jean Odelin, 17 years, Serge Loiseau, 19 years and Jaques Baby, 23 years.
The Südwall stands for the complex and conﬂicted history of Germany and France and the catastrophe of the two World Wars. This former line of defense is a place that reminds us that the Europe of today has suffered from many wars and that its position as a peaceful union of different countries can not be taken for granted, it is a fragile construction.

Series of 9 Analog photographs, c-prints, 160 x 130 cm and 130 x 160 cm, edition of 3 + 1 A.P.

The Neue Staatsgalerie Stuttgart by James Stirling is today considered a masterpiece of postmodern architecture. In its complex design the museum is an Art Work in itself together with its collection of pictures and sculptures. This is especially signified by the many visual quotations from the history of architecture which are a striking feature of the Neue Staatsgalerie. Further more these features parody assumptions about architecture.

The series Staatsgalerie Stuttgart I – IX are dedicated to the special design elements in the Stirling building. Deliberate examples in the representation of the architecture refer to the use of colour, form and materials which promote contradiction. The pictures I and IX of the series are quotations in a double sense – they acknowledge Stirling has taken up the formal language of Le Corbusier's semi-detached houses at the Weißenhofsiedlung in Stuttgart and Margret Hoppe's photographs refer to her own series about Le Cosbusier’s architecture.

As a synthesis which unites architecture and art Stirling has also chosen the furnishings of the museum which are integrated in the design of the building. The series Reposer shows the different seats in the museum to be consistent with the eclectic architecture of the Neue Staatsgalerie Stuttgart.

Text by Christiane Fiebig

Acquired by The Staatsgalerie Stuttgart

Series of 18 analog photographs, diasec and c-prints, different sizes, edition of 5 + 2 A.P.

The images in the series „Cotton and Capital – Le Corbusier in India“ are a contiuation of the work »Après une Architecture« that was shown two years ago in Archiv Massiv. In the last four years I have followed the Architecture ofLe Corbusier in France and Germany and I´m now exhibiting photographs of his buildings from India. The title „Cotton and Capital“ refers to the function of the different buildings in the cities of Ahmedabad and Chandigarh. In 1954 the architect designed the building for the „Ahmedabad Textile Mill Owners Association“, also know as ATMA by the citizens. Coincidentally „Atma“ is also the name for the soul in Sanskrit language. One of the most important Mill Owners in India is the Sarabhai family who comissioned a private villa by Le Corbusier, known as Sarabhai House. „Capital“ refers to Chandigarh which was built as the new seat of governement for the north indian state of Punjab. The capital was based on the plans of Le Corbusier in the nineteen-fities. The government buildings of the HighCourt, Secretariat and Assembly Hall are constructed from colourful raw concrete. Now in the 50th year since thedeath of Le Corbusier these buildings still stand as a monument to the architect in India.

Series of 9 AnalogPhotographs, C-Prints, 72 x 90 cm and 90 x 72 cm, 1 digital Print, 100 x 70 cm, Edition of 5 + 2 A.P.
1 of 5 Artist Books, Edition of 13 + 2 A.P.

„Original Wolfen“ is part of the „archive of abandoned buildings“, a work on structural legacies of the GDR who lost their functions after the German reunification. Nowadays, the objects are in state of neglect or preservation. Five buildings of the series „The Chamber“, „Original Wolfen“, „Guesthouse of the Ministery of GDR“, „ZEHA special sports footwear Hohenleuben“ and „VEB combine for baked goods Saalfeld“ are united in a photographic image archive so far. This archive is an attempt to preserve them from vanishing completely from the cultural memory. In 1909, the Actien Gesellschaft for Anilin-Fabrikation (AGFA) in Wolfen founded a film factory which became the biggest producer of roll film in the 1920s. Developed in Wolfen in 1936, the product Agfa-Color-Neu is based on the basic principle of multilayer colour film, which is used in the production of colour films to date. During First and Second World War the factory procuded special films for airspace and was integrated in war economy. In 1949, after the division of Germany AGFA moved the factory to Leverkusen and stopped the production in Wolfen. In 1964, a new factory was founded in the GDR by the name ORWO, Original Wolfen, which was oriented on the East European market. Highly sensitiv colour films, black-and-white material, reversal films, photographic paper, kine films and sound films were produced until 1994. Because of the development of digital photography the pictures of this series are a memorial in a double twist: for the loss of the company ORWO and for the vanishing of analogue photography.

Series of 14 Analog Photographs, C-Prints, 100 x 125 cm and 125 cm x 100 cm, framed behind glas, Edition of 5 + 2 A.P.

I follow the traces of art made in the former GDR. On the one hand I take photographs of the blank spaces in rooms or on the walls or facades that were appeared when pictures were taken away or painted over after the cultural and political turn in 1989. On the other hand I visit archives or storages where images with an uncertain future are stored or forgotten. The titles of the photographs refer to these. My „vanished pictures“ by including the name of the artist, the title, dates and technique, thereby become their representatives.