Elina Brotherus / Angelika Platen. Double Lives – Reflections and Facets of Artistic Identities

In a dialogical double exhibition, the Museum für Photographie Braunschweig presents the photographic artistic works of Elina Brotherus (*1972 in Helsinki, Finland, lives and works in Helsinki and Avallon, France) and Angelika Platen (*1942 in Heidelberg, lives in Berlin and South France).

The two artists engage with the theme of portraiture in different ways, focusing on aspects of the individuality of artists and their works, of art and identity, and of art and society. While Angelika Platen is an important
Elina Brotherus, a chronicler of contemporary art and portrait photographer since the late 1960s, dedicates herself to the subject of portraiture and the exploration of artistic identities through metaphorically subtle self-presentations. Iconic imagery, representative moments, and the interrelationships within artistic works are transformed into associative images.

Gatehouse 1
Angelika Platen – Portraits and documentation of art actions from the late 1960s to the early 1970s.

Angelika Platen, with her portraits of international contemporary artists, is one of the most important photographers in contemporary photography. Her portraits reveal encounters with the individuality of artistic personalities in authentic and compositionally unique visual moments.

Her extensive body of work, now spanning five decades, has developed in three phases since the late 1960s, with an interruption from the mid-1970s until the late 1990s, when the artist lived in Paris. Initially, she focused exclusively on black-and-white portraits, using them to capture the spirit of change and conceptual reorientations of the emerging international post-war art avant-garde, transforming them into distinctive images of artists. In later years, the photographer expanded her repertoire to include a wider range of subjects.
Phases of their work also consciously focused on portraits of female artists and on the field of color photography.

The exhibition at the Museum of Photography Braunschweig, a joint exhibition with Elina Brotherus's work on display in Torhaus 2, presents important photographs by Angelika Platen documenting the public art scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Her pushing of artistic boundaries and actions became significant contributions to society, vividly illustrating the formal and action-oriented possibilities of art to this day.

One room focuses on Joseph Beuys, whose "expanded concept of art" imbued unusual materials like felt and fat with symbolic meaning, and who used political protest actions to oppose the art establishment. His objects later became sought-after and highly prized collector's items.

Many of Angelika Platen's portraits have become iconic – including the famous double portrait of Angelika Platen and Sigmar Polke in the mirror. It was created during a visit by the artist to Willich in the early 1970s.

Her sensitivity to special moments, image compositions, and meaningful events reflects the development of contemporary art and its protagonists in a unique way. The documentation of an action by Daniel Buren in Düsseldorf allows for connections to Braunschweig and Wolfsburg.

Gatehouse 2
Elina Brotherus – portrait stagings and a film work with references to Joseph Beuys, Caspar David Friedrich, John Baldessari, John Cage, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Valie Export, Erwin Wurm and Alvar Aalto.

Elina Brotherus is one of the most important contemporary Finnish artists. Her photographic and filmic work has been shown in numerous international exhibitions. In Lower Saxony, however, she has only been featured in a few group exhibitions. The Museum of Photography Braunschweig aims to rectify this and, with this exhibition, presents a dialogue with Angelika Platen, two artists whose work explores the multifaceted theme of portraiture, particularly portraits of artists.

Like Angelika Platen, Elina Brotherus also dedicated herself to the meaning and facets of portraiture within the context of movements such as Fluxus and Conceptual Art. While Angelika Platen's documentation of Joseph Beuys's actions, for example, constitutes an important series of works that present the portrait in the context of his working methods and actions, Elina Brotherus, among other things, has engaged with Joseph Beuys metaphorically in a recent comprehensive body of work, translating aspects of his work in conjunction with symbols into her own pictorial spaces.

In her work, Elina Brotherus explored the relationship between identity, art, and space, engaging with the work of Alvar Aalto, who became an important architect in Wolfsburg with his buildings. The year 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of his death.

A new edition is being created in connection with the exhibition , and events with the Aalto Society are being planned.

Cooperation

The exhibition is a collaborative project with halle267 – städtische galerie braunschweig, where Angelika Platen's portrait work will be extensively shown from February 20th to March 29th, 2026 in the exhibition "Leaps of Joy and Other Encounters: Portraits of Artists from Five Decades" .

A comprehensive program accompanies both exhibitions.