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‘On Archives’ / 21.11. - 06.12.2024 / Bärengasse 16 / 8001 Zurich

Roger Eberhard

Roger Eberhard (*1984, Zurich, Switzerland), is both an artist and a publisher. His photographic works often deal with the political and sociological implications of a world that has transformed from an industrialized to an optimizing society.

The range of Roger Eberhard’s topics is wide – his series “Aussicht” deals with the reprocessing of a former Nazi concentration camp in Ukraine and the memory that is stored within the walls of what is today a luxurious hotel. While the project “Norma” describes the absurdity of a Potemkin village in Hamburg, Eberhard’s “Shanty Town Deluxe” focuses on the marketing potential of poverty. For that project he traveled to South Africa to photograph a fancy hotel that offers its visitors a “township experience” without ever having to set eyes on people who are actually suffering. His series “Standard” raises questions about a world that becomes more anonymous through the increased standardisation, about a society in which the known replaces the community and where only the recognisability offers a sense of security. During one year Roger Eberhard travelled to 32 cities on all continents to photograph the standard room of a Hilton hotel and the view from the room.

His recent project, “Accounts of Human Territoriality”, show sites of past borders. Across the globe and crisscross through the history of spatialized politics, this body of work strings together photographs of former demarcation lines.

In this group show from his series “Escapism”, Roger explores the Swiss oddity of collecting coffee cream lids (Kafferahmdeckel) The project presents an inventory of archetypal landscapes, extracted directly from coffee cream lids and heavily enlarged. These images evoke a sense of Fernweh while also confronting the consequences of climate change, underscoring what’s at stake if current environmental trends continue.

Works by Roger Eberhard are exhibited internationally and found in important collections, both public and private. In 2011 he founded the Zurich based publishing company b.frank books, which publishes 4 to 6 artist’s books per year. Currently Roger Eberhard lives and works in Stallikon (CH) and in Berlin.

2021

“Civilization”, MuCEM, Marseille, France

2020

"Human Territoriality", Photoforum Pasquart, Biel, Switzerland

2020

"Propositions for Alternative Narratives", Photoworks Festival, Brighton, UK

2020

"Human Territoriality", Landskrona Foto, Landskrona, Sweden

2020

“Civilization”, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Auckland, New Zealand

2018

“Civilization”, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea

2018

“Das Polaroid Projekt”, C/O Berlin, Berlin, Germany

2017

“Standard”, Getxophoto International Images Festival, Getxo, Spain

2015

“Shanty Town Deluxe”, Ngorongoro, Berlin, Germany

2014

“Tumulus”, Lianzhou Foto Festival, Lianzhou, China

2013

“Wilted Country”, Kunstverein Aschersleben, Aschersleben, Germany

2012

“Migration”, Irish Museum of Contemporary Art, Dublin, Ireland

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