Holger Mühlenbeck’s photographic contribution to the Shelter Foundation carries the title “Liberation”. The eye fixes on a female figure behind a sturdy metal grid. The dusty, corroded surface of the metal stands in stark contrast to the smooth, velvety complexion of the woman. Blurring and the play of light transfigure the motif. Is this in fact a woman? Or a shop window dummy? Do we sense melancholy or is the look merely vacant? Who is imprisoned? Who is behind the grid? And what is in front of it? The picture dwells in uncertainties and generates conflicting thoughts on perfect, mannequin-like beauty and the experience of freedom and the lack of it.
Holger Mühlenbeck (*1945, Dortmund, Germany; living in Wuppertal, Germany)
Holger Mühlenbeck explores his chosen motifs series-wise as, for example, when he photographs skyscrapers and the play of their mutually reflecting windows. At large-scale events and fairs he has mingled among the crowds to capture moving, striking scenes: uncannily human-like mannequins; costumed human figures resembling mannequins; perspiration-soaked, heavily made-up, roiled and agitated humans. In 2001, the Von der Heydt-Museum in Wuppertal held a solo exhibition of his work.
