Hatje Cantz : Franz Gertsch & Stefanie Schneider

The Hatje Cantz publishing house has two visual treats in the spring programme: The Franz Gertsch retrospective and the exuberant picture book *Stranger than Paradise* by the shooting star of the photography scene Stefanie Schneider. Franz Gertsch (*1930) is regarded as an important representative of the photo or hyperrealism of the 1970’s. After taking part in the Biennale in Venice three times, plus individual exhibitions including in the New York Museum of Modern Art he has reached the highest heights in the artistic universe. A highlight of his career, which is rare for a living artist, was the opening of a museum in 2002, which is both dedicated to and named after him in a Swiss village near Bern, where his oeuvre is shown in greater depth. To commemorate his 75th birthday this monograph brings together large format paintings, monumental wood cuttings plus a representative selection of gouaches (a heavy, opaque watercolor paint) and aquarelle (a method of painting using very transparent watercolours) by the artist from the late 1960’s until the present day. A directory of the works accompanies the book (€ 49.80, SFR 78.00). And as well as the book, there is also a Collector's Edition with original work by the artist. One of the most renowned photo realistic paintings by Franz Gertsch, *Marina schminkt Luciano* (*Marina puts make-up on Luciano*) is available as a great large format poster. *Stranger than Paradise* is the first total overview of the previous work by the new shooting star of the young German photography scene Stefanie Schneider. In a surreal way the expired Polaroid films she uses distort what we know from road movies: advertising signs from the 50’s, palm trees in front of a cyan blue sky, candy coloured road cruisers, a lonely petrol station in the middle of nowhere. The graduate from the Essen Folkwang School populates these scenes with bizarrely disconnected substitute figures. Incidentally, director Marc Forster integrates photography by Stefanie Schneider in his new thriller *Stay* starring Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts. *Stranger than Paradise* (€ 35.00, SFR 58.00) will be published just in time for the release of the film.