Edwin Zwakman (born 1969) is the kind of artist who cannot be described merely as a “photographer”, since his interest lies in detailed reconstructions of reality. But it is only photography that lends his (artificial) models an air of authenticity that permits the picture’s perplexing impact. In this approach, the Dutch artist is related to Thomas Demand and Oliver Boberg.
Edwin Zwakman strikingly presents the aesthetic of our inhospitable surroundings – be it private interiors or urban spaces. In the comparison between simulated reality and what we think we know about the corresponding actual facts, our memory is put to a tough test. And finally, Zwakman’s pictures are so suggestive that their truth can no longer be measured against reality.
This encounter with Edwin Zwakman is made possible by the Nuremberg collectors Birner & Wittmann.