Double vernissage in Merl Park and at the Hospice Civil de Hamm

On Tuesday, 4 June 2024, the College of the Mayor and Aldermen met twice to honour Luxembourg photographer and winner of this year's Luxembourg Photography Award, Michel Medinger. During this double vernissage, the artist's daughter, Isabelle Medinger; the president of Lët'z Arles, Florence Reckinger-Taddeï; the director of Lët'z Arles, Cécilia Zunt Radot; and artist and art critic Paul di Felice paid tribute to Medinger's body of work, highlighting its significance not only for Luxembourg's cultural scene but also for the influence this former Olympian and autodidact has had worldwide.

Michel Medinger, a Luxembourg photographer born in Neudorf in 1941, made his name with a number of photographic series, and particularly his black-and-white still lifes. Medinger, a collector and self-taught painter and photographer, has explored many photographic techniques, even inventing his own chemical mixtures. Throughout his career, he has been especially drawn to black-and-white photography, Cibachrome and Polaroids.

Michel Medinger has exhibited his photographs all over the world, including in Europe, the United States, China and Japan. From 1 July to 29 September 2024, he will be the subject of a major exhibition organised by Lët'z Arles at the Chapelle de la Charité as part of the prestigious event, Rencontres d'Arles.

Two photographic series will be exhibited in Merl Park: "Pompes à essence" ("Petrol Pumps") and "Objets de sport" ("Sports Objects"), which reflects Michel Medinger's enthusiasm for sports – not surprising given that he ran track and field in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

In both of the photo exhibitions – at the Hospice civil de Hamm and in Merl Park – the curators have sought to create a setting befitting Medinger's mysterious world, selecting photos that depict the subtle sense of humour with which he approaches themes such as the ephemeral, vanity, human fragility, and the eroticism of the human body. The photos on display in the Hamm exhibition all come from the artist's private collection and are rarely seen by the public.