Auguri, translated as ‘Congratulations’,is
a fitting title for Juergen Teller’s solo exhibition of photographic works that
have been shot within the last two years as a euphoric celebration of life after
the pandemic with his wife and muse, Dovile Drizyte.
The
exhibition opens with the series We are Building
our Future Together (2021), which features Juergen and Dovile clad in high visibility
workwear, striking various poses at construction sites in Venice and Naples. As viewers, we are invited to witness their performative and suggestive interventions
with the surrounding paraphernalia – the road signs, pipes, drills, saws and
machinery, producing a comic narrative that is symbolic of their fruitful and
trusting relationship.
This set the joyful, irreverent tone
for their wedding in Naples, an occasion they ensured was an unforgettable,
multi-day experience for their guests, in a city they love for its gritty beauty
and the warmth of its people.
Auguri (2021) is Teller and Drizyte’s uninhibited
visual diary of their wedding adventure and a celebration of their life
together.
Juergen Teller, born in Erlangen in 1964,
studied at the Bayerische Staatslehranstalt für Photographie in Munich. His work has been published in
influential magazines such as Vogue, System, i-D, POP
and Arena Homme+, and has been the subject of solo exhibitions including
those at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, the Fondation Cartier
pour l’art contemporain in Paris and Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin. Teller won
the prestigious Citibank Photography Prize in 2003, and from 2014 to 2019 held
a professorship at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste Nürnberg. His books with
Steidl include Louis XV (2005), Marc Jacobs Advertising, 1998–2009
(2009), Siegerflieger (2015), The Master IV (2019), Handbags
(2019), Leben und Tod (2020) and William Eggleston 414 (2020).Dovile Drizyte, born in Kaunas in 1982,
is Juergen Teller’s creative partner. Drizyte studied political science and
diplomacy at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, before relocating to New
York where she worked with luxury and fashion brands for 15 years. Since 2018
she has been based in London, collaborating closely with Teller on all his
editorial, art, and publishing projects.
There will be a book signing at The
Store X Berlin, on Saturday 11th June 2022 (4pm-6pm).