Past exhibition
Jiří Křenek- Formel 1 – Hautnah!
09.07.2009 – 23.08.2009
Formula 1 – up close! With the young Czech photographer Jiří Křenek (b. 1974 in Prague), the Ludwig Museum in Koblenz is presenting a field of photography that has so far rarely been shown in an art museum. The world of sports and commerce only occasionally moves into the zones of art anyway. In this case, however, the exception is worthwhile: Jiří Křenek has been working for the Prague motorsport magazines of the Axel Springer publishing house since 1992 – Svet Motoru, Autotip, Autoexclusive, F-1 Racing, Autoprofi. For years he accompanied the entourage around Michael Schumacher & Co. as a sports photographer and is now one of the 85 Formula 1 photographers from all over the world selected by the FIA headquarters in Paris, who are re-accredited every year according to strict guidelines.
Among other things, Jiří Křenek received an award in Paris at the annual “Festival Automobile International” 2004 for the best photo in the field of automobiles of the year 2003. He was the first Czech to win this internationally recognized prize. “It was my first time taking part in this competition and I won it right away. I didn’t expect that at all. When you consider the number of famous photographers who have won this award before me. For example, the German Reini Schlegelmilch, a legend among the Motorsport photographers from Formula 1. There were several experts from motorsport on the jury. First and foremost I would like to mention the former Formula 1 racing driver Jaques Lafitte, then the long-standing organizer of the Ralleye Paris – Dakar, Hubert Auriol! My winning photo was actually just a section of a photo, namely the reflection of the one that took place on the helmet of the racing driver Juan Pablo Montoya. I took the complete photo before the start of last year’s race in Barcelona. The starting point was Montoya’s helmet. It’s from the Design specific and the only one in the field of drivers that has a silver foil in the rear part that protects the neck is seen. Part of my photograph was reflected by this foil, as if in a mirror, in such a way that it came across as an impressionist painting.”
In fact, his unusual perspectives on the subject of “racing cars” and the situation of the drivers in the cockpit of their narrow vehicles are particularly convincing. They illustrate the rapid speed, the elegant aesthetics of the aerodynamic vehicles, the enthusiasm of the masses at the edges of the Corso as well as the moments that can be experienced individually between star and audience.
Jiří Křenek’s photos combine many things: topicality, beauty and closeness. You can’t even experience Formula 1 on TV like this. The exhibition is supplemented by works from the photography cycles Hypermarkets, Mobile Phones and Small Towns. The exhibition FORMULA 1 – up close! Photographer Jiří Křenek will open on Thursday, July 9, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. in the Ludwig Museum. It is deliberately linked to the only Formula 1 race in Germany at the nearby Nürburgring. The show can be seen throughout the holiday season and can therefore still be experienced by fans of racing and art after the race. Opening Thursday, July 9, 6:30 p.m. The artist is present!
Jiři Křenek. Plakat der Ausstellung “Formel 1 – Hautnah!”, 2009