Klaus Pockrandt: Photographs from the series "Light my fire"
About the Artwork
In Los Angeles, Klaus Pockrandt explored the city through his camera, searching for fragments of its identity. His work traces people, encounters, the urban landscape, and the act of painting with light. Engaging with the colors specific to each place, his practice gradually moved toward photographic abstraction: reducing his imagery to light and color, Pockrandt began to “draw” dynamic compositions with his SLR camera. Spontaneity, intensity, and movement lie at the heart of these works, giving rise to an atmospheric visual language created entirely without software or digital manipulation.
For Art on Common Ground Pockrandt situates his artistic practice anew within the urban space of Halle (Saale). How do these abstract visual worlds resonate here? And how do urban dynamics intertwine across the Atlantic?
About the Artist
Klaus Pockrandt is a communication designer and art director. Since 2003 his work has focused on creating visual communications across graphic design, typography, exhibition design and corporate identity. He is a co‑founder of atelier42 in Halle (Saale). Pockrandt has led the graphic design for a wide range of exhibitions, including the complete graphic concept of several state exhibitions in the federal state of Saxony‑Anhalt. His work has won multiple awards, such as the “100 Best Posters” award (2009) and a Special Mention from the German Design Award (2017).
Klaus Pockrandt was the 2016 fellow at the Villa Aurora in Los Angeles, in cooperation with the Saxony-Anhalt Arts Foundation.
About the Artworks
With The Treadmill – How often does history repeat itself!, Marc Fromm examines the cyclical nature of history as "recurring events in new guise." The installation on the building of the Kunststiftung des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt points to the cycles of historical continuities and their social consequences.
・Location: Saxony-Anhalt Arts Foundation
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In her work Attack of the 5'3 Ft Woman, Fern Liberty Kallenbach Campbell processes a diverse range of impressions from her residency in Los Angeles. Amid Pacific fog and shimmering heat, between the tranquility of Villa Aurora and the relentless sounds of the city, a multilayered field of tension emerges — one of nature, urbanity, silence, noise, and light.・Location: Universitätsring/Opera
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Fern Liberty Kallenbach Campbell's Attack of the 5'3 Ft Woman greets and bids farewell to travellers at Halle (Saale) Central Station. — in a form that deliberately transforms the original work: the digitised tapestry can be seen not only at the Universitätsring/Opera House but also at Platform 7 of the station. ・Location: Halle (Saale) Central Station (Platform 7)
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With Bronson Cave, Griffith Park, L.A. 2025/26, Christine Matzke explores the origins of Hollywood's name. At the heart of her artistic research is the holly — which appears as a central motif in her drawings. The work also draws a connection to the Botanical Garden in Halle (Saale), where Matzke has researched the holly and its botanical context.・Location: Breitestraße/Geiststraße
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With GREAT AGAIN, Klaus Pockrandt addresses the present moment and, as a poster artist, places a timely artistic commentary on the profound political shifts of our time on a building facade at Robert-Franz-Ring. The work poses the question: How do we preserve hope?・Location: Robert-Franz-Ring 20
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In addition to the building facade at Robert-Franz-Ring, Klaus Pockrandt presents photographs from the series Light my fire — an abstract photographic exploration of the city of Los Angeles — linking them to the urban space of Halle (Saale). The artistic work investigates how urban dynamics intertwine across the Atlantic.
・Location: Universitätsring
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About the Project
From May 29 to June 8, 2026, Art on Common Ground transforms the city center of Halle (Saale) into a public gallery. The works will be displayed at diverse locations in public space, forging a connection between art, society, and international perspectives.
Following the successful poster campaign Art in the City with large-format art posters in Berlin, Villa Aurora, in cooperation with the Saxony-Anhalt Arts Foundation, again invites former fellows to create large-format poster artworks for the new edition Art on Common Ground in Halle (Saale). The project will be gradually expanded to additional cities and federal states, with the goal of bringing artistic impulses broadly across the country and reaching people in their everyday lives.
Art on Common Ground aims to make a statement about the value of art and culture in times of societal change. The project's goal is to make art accessible to a wide audience and to strengthen the visibility of the cultural scene. It offers an immediate impression of the outstanding international significance of the art scene in the eastern German federal states and beyond.
With works by: Fern Liberty Kallenbach Campbell, Marc Fromm, Christine Matzke, and Klaus Pockrandt.
To the Locations
Partner
A cooperation with the Kunststiftung des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt.
Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e. V. is funded by the Federal Foreign Office and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
