Opening night!

Photo by James Palik

I didn't know there was such a thing as post-show blues, but a friend sent me this blog post a few days after my show opened. Now that I've taken the exhibition down, yes, I do feel a bit blue.
However, the show was very well received and opening night was a blast. Friederike Schulte, the director of the Carl-Schurz-Haus, was very gracious in inviting me to show my work there. Her introduction on opening night pointed out my close association with the institute, where I taught for over a decade.

                                                                                                                                                                 Photo by James Palik

At the opening, many old friends were on hand to see the photographs and hear me introduce the topic from my perspective - what emotionally affected me about Stuttgart 21.

                                                                                                                                                                 Photo by James Palik

I explained there were three major points that made me put out the effort to put up the show:
First, the construction has scarred the face of the city I once used to love walking through and photographing.
Second, the divide that was wrought between proponents and protesters was so deep that it even caused us to think twice about which of our friends might not feel comfortable sitting at the table with others.

Photo by Uka Meissner-deRuiz

Finally, when we learned that one of the tunnels is supposed to be dug under our house, a shudder went down my back that returns every time I think about it.
I enjoyed discussing my art and my understanding of the project with visitors such as the Lückings, whose son Thomas is a star architect working on huge projects in Saudi Arabia.

Photo by James Palik

While I was taking a lunch break, I saw the Hebbekers walk past. He was one of my wife's favorite professors in Freiburg where we studied together. They were able to some to the opening and see Bianca again after many years.

Photo by James Palik

My daughter Julia made her own pictures of opening night, thanks to Uka lending her a camera.

Photo by Uka Meissner-deRuiz

The show was a nice opportunity to invite old friends whom I got to know while I lived in Freiburg. Sabine and Isabelle graced the vernissage with their presence.

Photo by Uka Meissner-deRuiz

Special friends came down from Stuttgart and even Berlin to be at the opening. Christel and Uwe drove in from Umkirch. Our families have had close ties for 20 years now.

Photo by James Palik

All in all, it seemed like many things had come full circle. The Lückings, whom I originally met through the Carl-Schurz-Haus, came to see my show and had a chance to meet many other wonderful people. They also came to Stuttgart to see my exhibition four years ago.

Photo by James Palik

From all reports, many visitors came to see the exhibition during the five weeks that is was up. I received emails from several people who posed questions or shared remarks about the photography they had seen. Putting on an exhibition provides an opportunity to create a dialog among people - not between the artist and the viewers, as I observed on opening night. There were also two long articles in the local papers about the show.

The 100 x 300cm collage afterward

Aside from a visitor's book, I also provided sticky notes for people to add their comments about the show and add to the collage I created from newspaper articles and information about the project. When the pictures are shown again, I'll update the information and perhaps even add some new photographs of the project's progress.
Although this first solo show will always hold a special place in my heart, I'm excited about upcoming shows and am looking forward to diving deeper into still life and landscape photography. I'm always open to new artistic adventures.

And since photography can help us freeze time, I'm going to add a final picture, one of my friend Christian helping me hang the show back in August. I couldn't have done it without him. Thank you!