Axel Hütte

Axel Hütte (1951, Essen, Germany) is involved with ‘landscape’ on many different levels and is constantly shifting his focus, whether it is to do with the city itself, its outskirts and boundaries and also where the ‘natural landscape’ begins. The untouched or virgin landscape has provided his main motivation in recent years, requiring long distance journeys to many different continents. Besides, Hütte has been drawn to more sparsely populated areas in order to concentrate on native in its purest form. The resulting photographs emphatically reveal strong painterly qualities. The absence of any people in his landscapes stresses the sheer grandiosity of nature, and at the same time transforming the viewer into an absent witness.

Hütte studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and was a student of Hilla & Bernd Becher. Recent solo exhibitions include Borusan Contemporary, Istanbul, TR (2022); Kunsthalle Krems, Krems, AT (2018); Museum Franz Gertsch, Burgdorf, CH (2018); Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, DE (2017) and Josef Albers Museum, Quadrat Bottrop, DE (2017). He had group exhibitions at Fondazione Brescia Musei, Brescia, IT (2023); Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main, DE (2020); Huis Marseille, Amsterdam, NL (2018); Barbican Art Gallery, London, UK (2016); Museo San Telmo, San Sebastián, SP (2014); La Galleria di Piazza San Marco, Venice, IT (2014); Galería Helga de Alvear, Madrid , SP (2011); Schirmer/Mosel Showroom, München, DE (2010); IVAM, Valencia, SP (2009); Fundación Telefónica, Madrid, SP (2008); Henie Onstad Art Centre, Høvikodden, NO (2006); Waddington Galleries, London, UK (2006); Palacio de Velázquez, Madrid, SP (2004); Fundación César Manrique, Lanzarote, SP (2004); Museum Kurhaus, Kleve, DE (2000). Hütte currently lives and works in Düsseldorf.