Klasse Piller:
You were always on my mind

Which artworks captivate us and are truly "always on our minds“? How do they influence us? Can an artist explore this, or is there a risk of becoming entangled in reproduction, creating copies, or overshadowing one’s own ideas?

In the winter semester of 2024/2025, students of Peter Piller’s class at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf specifically addressed these questions. Together, they developed a concept for a group project in which everyone contributes in the same format of 20 × 30 cm and follows the same principles. Only newly created works are shown, which not only reflect each artist's individual working style but also utilise photography as a medium of reproduction with its documenting and explanatory qualities.

The idea arose to photograph artworks by other artists that are appreciated by the respective students. These photographs – although depicting the work of someone else – clearly reveal each student's unique photographic signature. The goal is neither the supposedly accurate reproduction of the works that are "always on our minds" nor the mere visualisation of personal preferences. Rather, it is an attempt to explore essential questions of authorship posed at the beginning of the project.

Ines Rüttinger

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In cooperation with Kunstakademie Düsseldorf

Kindly supported by:
Kulturamt der Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf