Menno Aden

Menno Aden

Born in Weener
Born in Weener, Germany, in 1972. Studied at the University of Bremen. He became known with his unusual photographs of spaces from the ceiling perspective. His works are often topographical in nature, whether photographing systems of pipes, façades, or structures. In 2009, he was awarded the European Award of Architectural Photography, and in 2013, the Los Angeles International Photography Award and the Deutscher Preis Wissenschaftsfotografie, Bremen. He lives in Berlin. 
(Nadine Barth for Berlin Raum Radar, Hatje Cantz, 2016)

WORKS

Description

I will take away the roofs of the houses by my devilish power and in spite of the darkness of the night the inside will lie open before your eyes.” With these words he simply stretched out his right arm, and at that moment all the roofs disappeared. Now the student saw the inside of the houses (…) as if at bright midday. The sight was too new for him not to claim all his attention. He let his eyes wander in all directions, and the colorful variety of objects that surrounded him kept his curiosity busy for a long time.
Alain-René Lesage: The Lame Devil (Le Diable Boiteux), 1707
Menno Aden is specialized in architecture and spaces. People are hardly ever to be seen in his work. And yet the works from the series ‘Room Portraits’ can be read as portraits of the people living in the photographed rooms. They show spatial arrangements from an unusual perspective and seem as if someone had lifted the ceiling of the room to photograph it – one associates dollhouses and at the same time thinks of surveillance. In fact, they consist of up to a hundred individual shots taken with the help of a baton tripod and then digitally assembled.
(Wilhelm von Werthern for Le Monde diplomatique 9/2010)
For his series ‘Over Head’ Menno Aden photographed ceilings of the former U.S. Headquarter offices in Berlin-Dahlem. Aden captures a moment of this orphaned building’s turbulent history during the Cold War – the time of transition up to its current reconstruction. Preserved by photography, this moment is carried into the present. Here are the observations of a pathfinder who scans the building for material remains of its now faded, historically significant function.
Aden does not address obvious traces that are omnipresent at a site like this. It is the inaccessible parts that interest him, the unconscious leftovers such as the pipe system and powerlines behind the ceilings, a web of veins that pervades the whole building and become readable only through the precise capture of the camera lens.
Menno Aden’s digital editing and juxtapositioning of individual works carry a rythmic playfulness from which emerges a particularly sensible and graphic aesthetics.
(Katrin Seemann)

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Exhibitions

WALL OF SOUND — LAGE EGAL #187 - Albert Coers, Albrecht Wild, Alekos Hofstetter, Alex Flemming, Alexandra Erlhoff, André Catarino, Andrea Pichl, Andreas Becker, Andreas Burger, Angelika Arendt, Anke Völk, Anna Mieves, Annekatrin Lemke, Astrid Köppe, Barbara Lüdde, Ben Greber, Betty Böhm, Birgit Hölmer, Catherine Lorent, Charlie Stein, Claudio Wichert, Corentin Canesson, Daniel Hoflund, Diego Castro, Francisco Da Mata, Frank Maier, Frank Pietras, Franz Schmidt, Franziska Reinbothe, Frederik Foert, Gfeller + Hellsgård, Gregor Hildebrandt, Hannah Becher, Hansa Wißkirchen, Helena Walter, Ignacio Lobera, Ila Wingen, Jane Garbert, Jase Kala, Jens Hanke, Joanna Buchowska, Jules Maillot, Julien Hübsch, Justine Otto, Käthe Kruse, Klaus Killisch, Knut Eckstein, Kristina Popov, Linda Weiss, Lukas Glinkowski, Lukas Liese, Malcom Green, Marco Goldenstein, Marcus Sendlinger, Marianna Ignataki, Markus Willeke, Martin Skauen, Matthias Mayer, Matthias Pilsz, Maurus Gmür, Menno Aden, Mirjam Dorsch, Moritz Frei, Nadine Fecht, NIHILS, Nina E. Schönefeld, Oliver Mark, Patrick Kaufmann, Peter Freitag, Peter Hartinger, Philip Topolovac, Rei Matsushima, René Wirths, Roland Boden, Sabine Herrmann, Sador Weinsčlucker, Soji Shimizu, Songwen Sun-von Berg, ​Tjorg Douglas Beer, Tom Früchtl, Ursula Döbereiner, Viola Bendzko, Witte Wartena
ENDE NEU — Curated by Pierre Granoux - Adib Fricke, Alekos Hofstetter, Alexandra Hopf, Alexine Chanel, Anders Bonnesen, Andreas Burger, Angelica Ruffier-Holmqvist, Anke Völk, Anne Gathmann, Antoanetta Marinov, Astrid Köppe, Barbara Breitenfellner, Barbara Wille, Beck / Huber, Birte Endrejat, Bram Braam, Bruno Nagel, Caro Suerkemper, Caroline Bittermann, Catherine Lorent, Ce Jian, Christian Hans Albert Hoosen, Christine Weber, Cia Rinne, Claudio Wichert, Daniela Gugg, Diana Artus, Diana Sirianni, Emanuel Bernstone, Erik Goengrich, Florian Balze, Francisco Da Mata, Frederik Foert, Gabriel Braun, Gert-Jan Akerboom, Hagen Schümann, Heidi Sill, Henrik Strömberg, Inken Reinert, Ioana Alexe, Irène Hug, Isabel Kerkermeier, Ivan Liovik Ebel, Jean-François Karst, Jennifer Oellerich, Jofroi Amaral, Judith Karcheter, Julie Chovin, Julien Grenier, Jürgen Grewe, Katharina Kritzler, Kathrin Köster, Klaus Killisch, Knut Eckstein, Lukas Troberg, Luzia Simons, Manuel Salvat, Marc Klee, Marie Von Heyl, Marie-Luise Rief, Marieke Van Diemen, Marta Djourina, Marte Kiessling, Martin Fengel, Maurice Doherty, Menno Aden, Michael Bause, Michael Laurent, Michaela Zimmer, Moritz Frei, Nadine Fecht, Nicolas Manenti, Nuria Fuster, Oliver  van den Berg, Ornella Fieres, Paula G. Vidal, Pedro Boese, Peter Freitag, Pierre Granoux, Pierre-Etienne Morelle, Pietro Sanguineti, Regine Kolle, Reinhard Doubrawa, Ricarda Mieth, Roland Fuhrmann, Roland Moreau, Sabine Bokelberg, Sador Weinsčlucker, Sara-Lena Maierhofer, Satoru Tamura, Sibylle Jazra, Sinta Werner, Sophia Pompéry, Stefan Römer, Stella Geppert, Stephan Brenn, Sven Stuckenschmidt, Sybille Neumeyer, Thomas Prochnow, Ties Ten Bosch, Ursula Döbereiner, Ute Lindner, Valérie Leray, Vanessa Henn, Veit Stratmann, Witte Wartena, Wolfgang Capellari

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