Jonas Höschl

“Zum Schäfchen, Recherche Nord (POV)” (2026) is a multimedia installation by Jonas Höschl that reflects on the working conditions of the anti-fascist journalist collective Recherche Nord. The starting point is body cam footage of two attacks by the right-wing extremist publicist Götz Kubitschek in front of the restaurant “Zum Schäfchen” in Schnellroda, Saxony-Anhalt, a central meeting place for the New Right. The artist superimposes these and makes them spatially tangible through color-coded floor markings and wooden displays. At the center of the installation, two screens show the point-of-view video footage of the attacked photographer. The spatial situation places the viewers in a constant shib between the perspective of a victim and that of a neutral observer. This raises fundamental questions about the authenticity of documentary material and its contextualization.

80 Portraits: 73 Männer, 7 Frauen (Verlag für moderne Kunst, 2025)

I would like to thank Endstation Rechts, Recherchenetzwerk Berlin, and Recherche Nord, as well as the numerous other anti-fascist research networks and their photographers for the image material and their tireless work.

80 Portraits: 73 Männer, 7 Frauen, is a consists of a carousel slide projector, a device which recalls quaint nostalgic activities such as looking at vacation snaps. This one, however, runs through black-and-white photos, all depicting people in the same portrait format. Some of the poses are menacing, while the faces have been blurred out. The signifiers that these figures wear on their body—tattoos, shirts, logos, but also suits and folkloristic German apparel—betray their allegiance to far right groups. Höschl has sourced the images online, from anti-fascist networks where they have a clear purpose: mapping the Neonazi scene, documenting its protagonists, and potentially warning people who might fall victim to violent attacks. In the current setup, the pictures are lifted not only from their context, but also deprived of their function. They call to attention the mediated nature of photography: usually, photographer and subject are at considerable distance from each other, and only in rare cases the look is reciprocated, when the antifascists themselves are being photographed. – Philipp Hindahl

"Europe is lost (...) leaves an oppressive feeling. One photo shows a man whose face is completely masked, another wears dark sunglasses and smokes.", from the article "Nie wieder!" by Amelie Völker in the Süddeutsche Zeitung, July 05, 2020

"Nebenan nimmt Jonas Höschl auf die Olympiade 1972 Bezug. Der (...) Künstler (...) setzt sich in verschiedenen Medien mit den als "heiter" intendierten Spielen auseinander, die mit der Geiselnahme der israelischen Sportler und einem Blutbad mit elf ermordeten Geiseln, einem toten Polizisten und fünf toten Entführern endete.

Der Künstler verweist (...) auf Leni Riefenstahl, die das "Fest der Völker" 1936 unterm Hakenkreuz in Berlin filmisch heroisierte. Höschl macht aus Versatzstücken Anti-Propaganda.", aus dem Artikel "Bayerische Kunstförderpreise 2021" von Roberta De Righi in der Abendzeitung München vom 04. Februar 2022