Our art auctioneers are always on the look-out for interesting, refreshing and extraordinary upcoming artists. So we were very excited when we discovered German fine art photographer, Uwe Langmann. His works transcend the ordinary and reveals the poetry in everyday life. Inspired by filmmakers, 'light artists' and Japanese culture, his body of work radiates abstraction and minimalism. Now is your chance to invest in this upcoming artist as we proudly host a special auction dedicated solely to his work. Until the 17th of November (2017) you can bid on a number of his works from his early art to the most recent. We spoke with Uwe before the auction started to get to know him a bit better and find out more about his astonishing work. Read on to see what he had to say.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your work? How did you get started and what inspires you?
I started my career behind the camera as a director of short and documentary films in 2007. After one of my short films was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009 I wanted to direct a feature film. Sadly there were some issues when it came to shooting the film. In this process however, I did take some photographs of the locations where I wanted to shoot the film and everyone who saw those photography really loved them. In the end the film was never made and I started to work as a photographer instead. Since early 2010, I've dedicate myself solely to photography.
Because of that background, a big inspiration to me are filmmakers. I really love the films of Andrei Tarkovsky, David Lynch and Federico Fellini. But I also have a keen interest in abstract and minimalist painters like Mark Rothko, Agnes Martin, Ellsworth Kelly & Sol Lewitt, just to name a few. Apart from that I love 'light artists' like Dan Flavin or James Turrell and the Japanese culture with it's minimalistic ink paintings, called Sumi-e. In my photography I think most of these things have found their way into my work, but not all of them in obvious ways. For instance I'm very interested in the grey areas where the lines between photography, abstraction and painting are blurred. Also the fact that photography is 'writing with light' plays a major role in my works. In my series Transform for example, I tried to go back to the source itself and make photographs of (moving) lights and by doing so transforming them into something completely new, abstract forms.
How did you come to Catawiki?
I found out about Catawiki through a friend who's is also a photographer. After I checked out some of his auctions, I gave it a try and my first work did sell very well. So I kept on auctioning of my images.
Can you tell us about your experience selling at our auctions? What is Catawiki doing for artists such as yourself?
If you are an artist who is living from his art, I think Catawiki offers a good opportunity to have more financial freedom. Otherwise you are solely dependent on exhibitions and art fairs to sell your work.
Do you have any advice for other photographers who might be considering selling their work on Catawiki?
I'm quite new to Catawiki, but have enjoyed the experience so far. Their art auctioneers have been extremely helpful through the whole process. They can advise you on how to present works and what's selling best right now when needed. Just try it and see what goes best with the collectors that are biding at Catawiki.
What can we expect to see in the upcoming auction?
The auction will present a cross-section of my work. Starting with images that I made in 2010 to new ones from 2017. It also features three of my photographic series, Transform, Written in Water as well as ZeitRäume. I think it gives a good overview of my body of work and the themes that I like to process.
Do you have a favourite work that will be in the upcoming auction?
That's always a tough question. But some of my personal favourites are 'Drift', 'Reach' & 'Time'. Each of them is a rather precise expression of the substance as well as the aesthetic of the series each of them belongs to.
