Lois Hechenblaikner – Alpenglow

Lois Hechenblaikner caused a sensation last June with the publication of his illustrated book Ischgl, published by the prestigious Steidl Verlag.

Since the mid-1990s, the photographer, who comes from Alpbachtal in Tyrol, has been working on the effects of mass tourism on his homeland. For him, Ischgl in particular, with its après-ski excesses every winter, is the epitome of a ›Delirium Alpinum‹ and the ›tourist madness‹. Also in connection with the Corona crisis, the ski resort gained dubious fame in spring 2020 as a hotspot from which Covid-19 could spread throughout Europe.

The Museum Ulm now presents, as an exhibition at the moment, a selection of photo series and installations by Lois Hechenblaikner, in which he accompanies the transformation of his home country as an observer. The exhibition shows the artistic processing of a local color that suddenly and unintentionally attained supra-regional significance and thus becomes a topic that concerns us all in Europe.