Jochen Lempert
Akebia
2023
Offset print
21 x 28.8 cm
Edition of 100 copies numbered and signed by the artist on a certificate, plus 13 artist’s proofs
As the Latinization of the Japanese name akebi, “akebia” designates fives species of plants native to East Asia. These are climbing evergreen shrubs that have been used in many ways (decoration, medicine, craft), including for the consumption of its sweet, white fruit. Delicately placed at the center of the composition, the leaf appears in this work as in an herbarium, its familiar but inexhaustible form offered to the viewers for their contemplation. But a closer examination reveals a constellation of water droplets on the surface, as well as irregular edges – and we finally understand that the leaf is a photographic cut-out. Just for a moment, we mistook the reproduction for its original. What appeared to be a clear reference to the standards of scientific, botanical representation drifts off towards another domain. As is customary in Jochen Lempert’s practice, the obvious beauty of the work here is not its sole end; it also serves to question the medium of photography and what it means to produce “an image of nature.”
Jochen Lempert’s exhibition took place at Keijiban from September 15 to October 14, 2023.