Exhibition by Erich Hörtnagl at the Galerie Bretze, Hall in Tirol
with vernissage on 20th November 2026 (exhibition duration: 20/11/26 – 9/01/27)
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! A man after midnight…
Photographic remarks on the role of Eros in today's "fatigue society"
“Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! a man after midnight …”, when ABBA sang this refrain in the late 1970s, it still expressed the longing for closeness, devotion, and the Other. Today, however, neopuritanism, narcissistic self-reflection, and optimized hedonism seem to increasingly displace Eros. The Tyrolean photographer and filmmaker Erich Hörtnagl has approached this tension field both photographically and artistically and is now showcasing his works in the revived Galerie Bretze in Hall.
“Erotics becomes functional, calculable, and consumable - the mysterious, unavailable, and living aspect falls out of focus. I have tried to capture this disappearing, searching movement towards the Other in my works,” says Hörtnagl. Formally, his work is characterized by a sensitive interplay of light, shadow, and composition. With black-and-white abstraction and interventions such as overlays, reductions, or the use of graphics, painting, and neon, he shifts his photographs into a space between reality and imagination.
The German-Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han describes Eros as an experience of openness: as the risk of engaging with another and being changed by it. It is precisely in this uncertainty that its existential power lies. Where this experience succeeds, more than mere satisfaction emerges: a moment of beauty — the harmony of the different, the consonance of the seemingly incompatible.
Galerie Bretze, Salzburgerstrasse 5-7, Hall in Tirol
Opening hours: Thu – Mon, 5 p.m. – 12 a.m.
Vernissage: 20th November 2026, 7 p.m., introductory words: Julia Sparber-Ablinger
Finissage: 9th January 2027, 7 p.m.
Bretze das Restaurant
Salzburger Str. 5 & 7
6060 Hall in Tirol
(0043) 5223 56752
info@bretze.at
