Martin Mlecko: Private Life
- Book Review,
by Corinna Weidner
Book Description
The family portrait is brilliantly reconceived in this series of 300 color photographs compiled by Berlin-based artist Martin Mlecko, who scoured flea markets and discarded albums to collect them.
From the Publisher
Taken over the last three decades, these amateur snapshots depict the familiar events of modern family life: births, weddings, vacations, parties, graduations, visits and confirmations. Mlecko creates a unity among these images by rephotographing and enlarging each one, a process that blurs the photos and gives them a painterly quality. Although recognizably amateur, this uniformity imbues the collection with an aesthetic weight and purpose. Viewers are both drawn in by their connection to the pictures’ nostalgia, and distanced by the artist inserting himself into these scenes of private life. The strength of these pictures lies not in their complex composition, but in the visceral expressions of joy, pride, love, loneliness, and dignity in their subjects. A fascinating glimpse at how we live, and of how we translate that living into art, this is a compelling examination of modern existence — one that combines found art, documentary, and a contemporary artist’s singular vision.
About the Author
Martin Mlecko is a conceptual artist working predominantly in photography and video. He has created works in many public spaces in Europe and the United States, including parks, banks, airports, hotels, and public restrooms. He lives in Berlin, Germany. Corinna Weidner is an art critic who writes for several magazines.
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