Frank Kunert

German artist Frank Kunert (born 1963) assembles and photographs surreal scenes of intricately constructed miniature models that blur the line between indoors and outdoors, reflect the contradictions of our human existence and contain intelligent observations about the whimsicality of the everyday.

Working slowly and with methodical precision, Frank Kunert (born 1963) creates miniature stage settings which he then photographs with a large-format analog camera, producing magical images of “small worlds” that have been published in previous acclaimed volumes from Hatje Cantz such as Topsy-Turvy World (2008) and Wonderland (2013).

Kunert’s works exist between the poles of slapstick and metaphysics. His new book Lifestyle presents 23 miniatures of these philosophically based stories of everyday life. Here, the ordinary quickly becomes absurd, tragedy veers into comedy and wit becomes ambiguous. The series is nominated for the International Felix Schoeller Photo Award 2017. 

In the tradition of Thomas Demand, acclaimed German photographer Frank Kunert (born 1963) spends weeks constructing highly detailed, convincingly realistic models, then photographs them to exacting technical standards to create vibrant images rife with subtle visual puns. Far from being simply satirical or charming, Kunert's miniatures often contain disquieting non-sequiturs: for example, an image of a multistory apartment-building interior seems to exude a kind of petit-bourgeois tristesse with its carpeted balcony railings, a lone flower box and deck chair, but on closer inspection the doors lead nowhere and the balconies cannot be accessed. This volume, first published in 2008 and long out of print, reveals Kunert's enigmatic world.