Andrzej Steinbach’s art is about human identity. [Identity is another word for the self. What makes a human being?] What does history have to do with one’s identity? Or the way we live together? Or the things that surround us? How is our culture related to it? His pictures relate to politics and society. In the past and in the present. His own photographs and installations ask questions and criticise. They take their motifs from history, pop culture and subculture. [A subculture is a small community within society. For example, they listen to a certain music or dress in a certain way]. They play with it. And they show possibilities for change.

He has developed a new series of artworks as well as an installation for the Kunsthalle Osnabrück. [An installation is a work of art in space.] The new artworks deal with the need for isolation and security. [Instead of compartmentalisation, you can also say withdrawal. Someone withdraws strongly in order not to come into contact with problems and difficult issues]. The starting point for his new work is a bureaucratic environment, like the order in an office. This order is a fixed part of everyday life in Germany. This environment seems to provide security. Many people are on constant alert. They want to be prepared at all times. These are the themes of this new series of works. For the series, Andrzej Steinbach photographed crime scene flats of the Brandenburg Police School. These flats are not inhabited. They are models. They are alienated models. That is, they have little in common with a real flat, of real people. In these flats, police students can learn and try out how to protect people in dangerous situations. He combines these photos with photos of people and things that stand for political activism.

For the title of the exhibition, Andrzej Steinbach quotes Saint Florian: “Verschont mein Haus, zündet andere an” [Spare my house, set others on fire]. At the centre of his new work is the question of whether the demand for social solidarity and individual well-being are compatible. [Solidarity is another word for cohesion and a sense of connectedness.]

Andrzej Steinbach (*1983 in Czarnków, Poland) lives and works in Berlin. The artist’s most recent solo exhibitions were at Museum Gunzenhauser Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz and Kunstverein Hamburg (both 2022). His work has been shown in numerous international group exhibitions including Ludwig Forum Aachen (2021), Kunsthalle Wien (2019), MoMA New York, Kunsthalle Bonn, and Centre de la photographie Genève (all 2018). He has received numerous awards including the Wüstenrot Stiftung Dokumentarfotografie Förderpreis, the Berenberg Prize for Young Art (both 2015) or the Marion Ermer Prize (2013). His work is represented in collections worldwide, including MoMA New York, the Contemporary Art Collection of the Federal Republic of Germany, Folkwang Museum Essen, and Sprengel Museum Hannover.

With the kind support of the Federal Cultural Foundation, the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture, the VR Foundation and the Freund:innen der Kunsthalle Osnabrück, DIX GmbH - Markisen Zentrum and Imvest Development GmbH.