Heaven on Earth: architect Toshiko Mori curates Candida Höfer’s sublime new photography show

The meticulous, architectural eye of the German photographer Candida Höfer is currently under the spotlight at Sean Kelly gallery in New York. The show is curated by award-winning architect Toshiko Mori, a recurring collaborator of Kelly’s who designed the gallery’s New York and Los Angeles spaces. 

Titled ‘Heaven on Earth’, the New York art exhibition showcases works spanning a 30-year period in Höfer’s practice, with Mori selecting images that exemplify the photographer’s discerning ability to capture both the physical and ephemeral aspects of architecture.

Featuring a range of spaces that includes libraries, museums, public theatres and churches, Toshiko Mori’s curation of Höfer’s photography highlights the sublime, spatial awareness that both architects and photographers possess. In her curatorial statement, Mori writes, ‘Candida Höfer’s photographs distil these moments of architects’ aspiration. To create a sense of “heaven on earth” – moments of sublime spatial experience – our eyes and bodies must “feel” completely, sensing the temperature of a space, smelling it, reading its colourations, and seeking the depths of its chiaroscuro. We may be visiting a concert hall, we may be reading in a library, or we may be in a place of worship; our present is always experienced emotionally and even spiritually. These are the moments which are often difficult, if not impossible, to describe.’

Characteristically devoid of human presence, Höfer’s photographs still convey a habitable and inviting atmosphere. ‘These images become an empty vessel for our imagination,’ Mori explains. ‘We enter into Candida’s photographs. We look at her art and imagine being there, vicariously experiencing all of the details, materials, and light within.’ 

At Sean Kelly, the exhibition has been split across two floors. The main space showcases more well-known public spaces, such as a dramatic exterior view of Herzog and De Meuron’s Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg and an equally hypnotic interior of Mexico City’s Vasconcelos Library, while the lower floor is dedicated to what Mori calls ‘sacred space; religious spaces and churches’. 

In an exclusive interview conducted ahead of the show’s opening, the architect says, ‘Candida photographs all her spaces in natural light conditions, she doesn’t manipulate or light the spaces. So in a way, you can really inhabit the atmosphere of what it's like to be in the space, more than in any other architectural photography.’ 

She adds, ‘You can feel through her photographs that Candida doesn’t just consider [making] an attractive image. I think she approaches things as a deep spatial expression; there’s a depth to the images and the way she prints them is also very large. One feels like one can actually enter into the image, as close as possible to being in the real space. This very powerful, experiential aspect of her photography, is often absent, especially in the digital age where photography is relegated to image-making apparatus.’ 

‘Heaven on Earth’ by Candida Höfer, curated by Toshiko Mori is at Sean Kelly, New York until 15 April 2023. skny.com