Alice in the Field

In her most recent works Andrea Wilmsen (b. near Düsseldorf 1970; lives and works in Berlin) directs her photographic perspective to the exhibition spaces and parts of museums that are inaccessible to the public. The interplay between fragmentary views and elaborately composed close-up shots lets the photographer outline remarkable portraits of renowned museums all over the world.

Alice in the Field--the title is a nod to Lewis Carroll's brilliant heroine, a key source of inspiration--gathers surrealistic impressions from behind the scenes at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. This multifaceted panorama of one of North America's leading research museums blends photographic documentation with creative narration. Wilmsen's photographs offer unusual insights into the collection of around forty million artifacts and specimens and introduces selected scholars. The portraits are complemented by archival images and photographs from the collection.