PHOXXI – Temporary House of Photography
Since 2021, PHOXXI has presented international contemporary and emerging practices in photography, bridging the period of renovation of the House of Photography in the southern of the two Deichtorhallen buildings. The name PHOXXI – derived from the word photography and the Roman numeral XXI – stands for an understanding of photography as a constantly evolving medium and for the expanded photographic practices of the 21st century.
In addition to PHOXXI, located directly on the Deichtorhallen grounds, photography exhibitions are also held in the Hall for Contemporary Art and in the Falckenberg Collection. Education programming continues in the workshop spaces of the Hall for Contemporary Art at the Deichtorhallen.
Vision and Program
Since 2024, the House of Photography has presented artistic projects in its temporary venue, PHOXXI, that explore and question the current social dimensions of photography. The focus is on the networked, digital, and synthetic manifestations of photographic practice.
PHOXXI provides a project space for the House of Photography’s program to investigate the medium’s current conditions and (re-)imagine its future. The exhibitions show how social, ecological, attention-economic, and technological shifts are negotiated in art and photography.
Events and Discourse
PHOXXI is a place of dialogue and encounter with contemporary photography, emerging artists, and the discourses and aesthetics of the medium. In addition to guided tours, artist talks, performances, and workshops, regular “photo aperitifs” are held.
Since curator Nadine Isabelle Henrich took responsibility for the program of the House of Photography and PHOXXI, new “Agency in Media” workshops, a free publication series on visual and media literacy as well as lectures, and symposia have been initiated as part of the “Viral Hallucinations” exhibition and discourse program.
Architecture and Design
The multi-story container building, measuring 164 by 41 ft (50 x 12.5 m), on the Deichtorhallen grounds provides a total area of around 8826 sq ft (820 m2) for a large exhibition space. The Berlin-based artist Anselm Reyle, who also teaches at the HFBK University of Fine Arts Hamburg and whose works were shown in a solo exhibition at the Deichtorhallen in 2012, was commissioned to design the exterior. The vividly colorful facade featuring Reyle’s typical stripes engages in a fascinating dialogue with works from the F. C. Gundlach Collection. The modular architectural design of PHOXXI resonates with the industrial character of its surroundings in HafenCity.
