Every era leaves its traces. They are the expression of human desires, ideas and achievements. In his photographic work Rainer Zerback captures these traces. In earlier series, for example, he has dealt with mass tourism as well as evidence of past industries in urban spaces.

For his latest series METAMORPHOSIS, the artist from Ludwigshafen was interested in how structural change shapes the face of rural areas. For this, he travelled several times to the Swabian Alb, as modernisation processes are taking place and have taken place successfully here. For the first time, around 20 works from this series are being presented at the Kunstmuseum Heidenheim. The selection makes it clear that there are definitely tensions within the process of change. This is not limited to the Swabian Alb, which is why many of the photographs cannot be precisely localised and have a certain general validity.

For example, the artist shows that natural spaces will experience different uses in the future. In addition to landscape use, tourism, for example in the Eselsburg Valley, or energy production, for example in the form of photovoltaic systems, are topics that influence the appearance and structure of rural areas.

Throughout the series, which is not yet complete, the simultaneity of tradition and innovation also becomes clear. In addition to globally active world companies, there are also handicraft businesses, next to car parks of stock exchange companies there are testimonies of faith and history meets the future.

Zerback captured the found scenes with a high tripod. This sometimes results in a bird’s-eye view that captures larger contexts. Another characteristic of Zerback’s art is that he mostly does without people. He sometimes achieves concentration on the essentials with the help of technical aids, for example by removing distracting elements or, in the case of pictures with people, by grouping and adding them together. These aids help him to create pictures that have a symbolic character.

The exhibition was realised with the support of the Förderkreis Kunstmuseum Heidenheim e.V.