In Raumaneignungen – Lech 2015/16 (Appropriating space – Lech 2015/2016), Walter Niedermayr dissects the Alpine region around Lech am Arlberg, while at the same time posing questions about the treatment of nature and landscape. For the EGH the artist selected a pair of images, which together appear to form a wintry mountain panorama: Lech Monzabonalpe. It’s an overview of a snowy landscape that nearly dissolves in the diffuse light and the neutralizing white of the high Alps. Alone the person skiing here, with his signs planted deep in the snow, is a concrete intervention in the minimalist, abstract scenery. At the same time, through its special proportions and the camera’s elevated standpoint, the work demonstrates its significance with respect to a sublime sort of nature. Here, the artist hasn’t tried to come to terms with a cliché, but instead has employed stylistic means to produce an alienating effect, thus opening up the scene to further interpretation.
