Background
Candida Höfer was born on February 4, 1944, in Eberswalde, Brandenburg, Germany. She is a daughter of a German journalist Werner Höfer.
2015
Candida Höfer at the Cologne Fine Art.
2016
Córdoba 100, Roma Nte., Cuauhtémoc, 06700 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Candida Höfer with Patricia Ortiz Monasterio (left) during a press conference at OMR Gallery in Mexico City, Mexico. Photo by Hector Vivas.
2016
Córdoba 100, Roma Nte., Cuauhtémoc, 06700 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Candida Höfer at a press conference at OMR Gallery in Mexico City, Mexico. Photo by Hector Vivas.
Eiskellerstraße 1, 40213 Düsseldorf, Germany
The Kunstakademie Düsseldorf where Candida Höfer studied from 1976 to 1982.
'Palazzo Pisani Moretta, Venezia I' purchased for $139,807 at Phillips in London in 2007.
Candida Höfer. Photo by Elena Cué.
Candida Höfer
Candida Höfer at work.
Candida Höfer
Candida Höfer was born on February 4, 1944, in Eberswalde, Brandenburg, Germany. She is a daughter of a German journalist Werner Höfer.
Candida Höfer became fascinated by photography at the age of eighteen when she had her first camera, a Rolleiflex. From 1963 to 1964, she developed her skills in photography volunteering for the Fotoatelier Schmülz-Huth, Cologne.
Höfer spent the four subsequent years studying at the Kölner Werkschulen (Cologne Academy of Fine and Applied Arts). In 1970, she relocated to Hamburg. She assisted an actor Werner Bokelberg to support herself and learned daguerreotypes till 1972.
The following year, Candida Höfer entered the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf where she studied filmmaking under Ole John till 1976. Since then, she was taught photography by the well-known duo of Bernd and Hilla Becher. Candida Höfer along with Thomas Ruff pioneered the use of color in Becher’s group of students.
The start of Candida Höfer’s career can be counted from the early 1970s when she freelanced as a portrait photographer for a number of newspapers. She assisted an actor Werner Bokelberg as well at the beginning of her artistic path.
The first photographic works of Höfer were made in black and white like Flipper photo-collage of 47 gelatin silver items. The color period was initiated by a series ‘Türken in Deutschland’ (Turks in Germany) that documented the new life of Turkish migrants in the country. It was another series of works dedicated to the migration problems and guest workers that increased Höfer’s popularity. By the end of the decade, she turned to photograph the interiors of public buildings that became her hallmark.
Since then, Höfer’s large-scale images of public buildings interiors made in a classical manner invite the viewers not only to contemplate the variety of architectural and decorative solutions but to meditate on the influence that these solutions have on people and vice versa. All the images that reveal the psychological subtext of the depopulated spaces are gathered by the author into groups according to their formal similarity.
The first solo exhibition of the artist took place at the Konrad Fischer Galerie, Düsseldorf, in 1975.
In 1997, Candida Höfer joined the professor’s staff of the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design and held the position till 2000.
A year later, she was commissioned to photograph the twelve casts of Auguste Rodin’s ‘The Burghers of Calais’. From 2004 to 2007, Höfer had a world trip searching for On Kawara's ‘Date Paintings’ in the homes of private collectors to take photos of them. In 2005, Höfer caught the rich interior decoration of the Louvre in her lens.
Candida Höfer has shown her images nationally and internationally, including such art venues as the Kunsthalle Basel, Portikus in Frankfurt am Main, the Hamburger Kunsthalle, the Power Plant in Toronto, the Louvre, and the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin. She has also taken part in Documenta, Kassel and the Venice Biennale.
Nowadays, Höfer lives and works in Cologne.
La Salle Labrouste - La Bibliothèque de L'INHA Paris III 2017
Bolshoi Teatr Moskwa II
Biblioteca Vasconcelos Ciudad de México I
Teatro di Villa Mazzacurati di Bologna II
Biblioteca Palafoxiana Puebla II
Benediktinerstift Admont III
Augustiner Chorherrenstift Sankt Florian I
Dia: Beacon New York II
Zoologischer Garten Paris II
Reflection I
Eckermannstrasse Hamburg
MARCO Museo de Arte Contemporánea de Vigo I
Théâtre Grevin Paris I
Hospicio Cabañas Capilla Tolsá from Daniel Buren work in situ Guadalajara I
Hidden
Li Yuan Library VI
Malkasten Düsseldorf II
Neues Museum Berlin XXV
Spiegelkantine III
Li Yuan Library IV
Elbphilharmonie Hamburg Herzog & de Meuron Hamburg II
Pipes
Wikingmuseum Oslo I
Kunsthal Rotterdam II
Teatro Nacional Brasilia IV
Quotations:
"Spaces may or may not invite the image – if they do, they mostly do it with their spatial layers of time. It is then the image that takes the place of the space; the image in its own right."
"When I visit cities I really like to walk around and look in buildings. I like buildings. I have respect for buildings."
"I never think about what inspires me. Earlier on [in my career] I did very different type of work and when I was finished with this, I switched over to interiors [...]. I am very happy I can do what I want and select places I want to go and photograph. I also look through a lot of books and magazines, which can be helpful. When I watch TV or go to a movie, I also focus on the interiors of a scene. Fashion doesn’t really inspire me."
"I see my work to some extent as portraits of spaces; this is also why I consider myself not to be an architecture photographer; they would focus on other things."
"I am primarily interested in visual relationships within each singular space and the layers of use visible in that space. If over time my aggregated work contributes to broader insights, then that happens so to speak behind my back."
"Books are not only interesting to read but their physical presence, particularly when they are present in large quantities, their order and variation in colors and form I have always found visually attractive as well."
As a young girl, Candida Höfer had a dream to become a singer.
Candida Höfer is married to Herbert Burkert.