52
B+WCOMMENT
In the first of her new series for Black+White, Shoair Mavlian, assistant
curator of photography at Tate Modern, introduces the photography of
Ursula Schulz-Dornburg – and reveals the thrill of researching
and acquiring new material for a major public gallery.
A MODERN EYE
All images © Ursula Schulz-DornburgU
rsula Schulz-
Dornburg’s series
Bus Stops in
Armenia is one of
her seminal works,
highlighted by
its obscure subject matter and
repetitive aesthetic approach,
but for me this work holds
great significance for another
reason – this series was the first
acquisition I researched upon
starting at Tate Modern in 2011,
and late last year I was thrilled
to be able to install the work in
our collection galleries at Tate
Modern with the artist UrsulaSchulz-Dornburg alongside me.
As we hung the gallery, it was
a rare moment as a curator, in
which the museum process is
experienced full circle, from the
first early stages of research, to
acquisition, through to hangingthe work on the wall ready for
the public to enjoy.
Born in Berlin in 1938, Ursula
Schulz-Dornburg has been
making conceptual photographic
series since the late 1970s and
although she has had soloexhibitions in Europe and the
United States, her work is still
little known outside of her native
Germany. Primarily working in
black & white, her photographic
series explores the intersection
between architecture and found
sculptural forms in the world
around us, often focusing on
details of the everyday landscape
which have been overlooked or
forgotten. Schulz-Dornburg is
interested in capturing these
structures in their various states
of decay, documenting them
perhaps for the last time before
they are gone forever.‘Primarily working in black & white, her
photographic series explores the intersection
between architecture and found sculptural
forms in the world around us, often focusing
on details of the everyday landscape which
have been overlooked or forgotten.’
Erevan-Gymri, 2004.52-55_SHOAIR_MAVLIAN_175 ER/MB.indd 5252-55_SHOAIR_MAVLIAN_175 ER/MB.indd 52 27/02/2015 10:2927/02/2015 10:29