Jonas Höschl

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

"Time disappears and leaves behind memories - of people, moments, melodies. "Fade Away Medley" is what Jonas Höschl calls his work, which revels in the thoughts and feelings of a generation. Carried by the soundtrack of his youth, Jonas Höschl tells in the photo book of scenes of debauchery and rebellion, but also of pausing and looking up. The hedonistic urge for extravagance and exaggeration is palpable in the full-page photographs, which are juxtaposed and enter into dialogues of content and form in direct succession. The transfiguring view of days gone by is broken up by sobering images of conservative lifestyles and world views. The oppressive conformity goes hand in hand with the longing for dissolution of boundaries, which Jonas Höschl also embodies himself in his photographs. He confronts the dialectic of his pictorial milieus in order to overcome them.", Carina Essl (LEONARDO – Zentrum für Kreativität und Innovation)

A: Fade Away Medley 1 (11:09 min)
B: Fade Away Medley 2 (16:47 min)

LP Fade Away Medley
Artist: Jonas Höschl, Photography: Jonas Höschl,
Composer: Tydings McClary, Mastering: Emanuel Geller,
Presswerk: MATTER OF FACT,
Design: Michael Seibert (unfun)

The photo book Fade Away Medley can be ordered here.

"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

Thanks to Sabrina Zeltner, Johannes Nussbaum, Nick Romeo Reimann, Willelm De Haan, Sabrina Reuschl, Linda Sakallah, Tannhäuser Kreis, Spring Break Art Residency and AVISO Magazine.