A succession of steps ascends the perfect ellipse of the cave while the colonnade, despite its three-dimensionality, seems to merge into a single trompe l'oeil with the ceiling sky. The pastel tone clouds reflect the modern seats on the bottom and the whole scene inspires a deep calm, almost as if we were immersed in a dimension separate from reality, despite the fact this is a real place: the Teatro Olimpico (1580-1585) in Vicenza, also known as the last masterpiece by the great Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio (1508-1580). These are just a few impressions from Candida Höfer’s exhibition Inside Italian Architecture, currently on view at the gallery Patricia Low Venezia in Venice, Italy.

The art exhibition presents a selection of works by Candida Höfer (b.1944), among the most internationally renowned living German photographers: within the frame of the Venetian Palazzo Contarini Michiel, these large-format colour photographs of Italian public buildings open a peculiar perspective on the richness of this country’s historical heritage, while also encouraging the viewer to refine the attention to detail.

From the very beginning of her career, Höfer has been particularly fascinated by architecture and interiors. These subjects have been relevant since her first internship at the Cologne-based studio schmölz+huth in 1963 and later became even more meaningful during her studies at the Düsseldorf Art Academy between 1976 and 1982, where she had the opportunity to study photography under Bernd (1931-2007) and Hilla Becher (1934-2015).

The influence of these two masters’ wide research on industrial architecture has been crucial for Höfer, leading the artist to develop a highly objective and detailed style of representation. Shifting from private to public spaces and semi-public spaces explored across different countries, these architectures have become increasingly uninhabited, but not by any means silent, through Höfer’s lens.

As mentioned by the German art historian Boris Friedewald in his book Women Photographers. From Julia Margaret Cameron to Cindy Sherman(Prestel, 2018), Höfer believes that “dogmas do not exist”, even though we can observe a certain linearity in her work during the last decades. Humanity has been gradually disappearing from her photographs, giving us the chance to focus on the structural complexity of architecture, without forgetting the variety of textures and ornaments that characterise these spaces. The value of deception is another key concept for Höfer, who points out how she has always tended toward the realisation of an artificial dimension: “I don’t take real pictures,” she states.

In this Venetian exhibition, the interiors of the gallery are put in an effective dialogue with Höfer’s photographs, thanks to simple yet diverse geometries, such as the pattern characterising the ceramic tile floor and the almost iridescent darkness of the wooden beams ceiling.

Observing these photographs, we can notice how the complex fragmentation of space is always brought back to an ideal order, through a predilection for central perspective and carefully balanced use of both natural and existing light. Modern-era theatres, where architectural and scenic perspective constitutes their very essence, are among the protagonists: as a tribute to Venice, we can also find some dazzling glimpses of Gran Teatro La Fenice (originally inaugurated in 1792).

Letting our gaze be transported by the infinite multitude of ancient books in libraries such as the Biblioteca deiGirolamini (1586) in Naples, or the magnificence of the Salone dei Cinquecento (1495-1496) in the Florentine Palazzo Vecchio, we have the chance to rediscover the historical and almost sacred value of these monuments through a more properly conceptual approach.

In conclusion, a further form of perspective such as the illusions created by the frescoes of another Neapolitan masterpiece, Reggia di Portici (1738-1742), reminds us, once again, to never stop at the surface of the image, as much as at a first impression of a building, exploring its endless layers of meaning.