The Lure of the Image

The fourteen artistic positions presented here engage with visual phenomena that serve as vehicles for online communication, criticism and humour, highlighting the crucial role images play in shaping our social, cultural and political landscapes.

The exhibition invites you to explore the visual worlds of social media feeds, dating app profiles, face filters, memes, ASMR videos, Google Street View photos, emoji, computer-generated imagery and low-resolution screenshots used for conspiracy or protest. The artistic positions track the complex mechanisms of the lure, shedding light on how images and their underlying structures – from algorithms to datasets – direct our attention, provoke emotions and influence opinions. As such, the works offer contemporary investigations into how images are both embedded within, and actively contribute to, an attention-driven economy – one that fuels our desires and thrives on our affective reactions.

Artists in the exhibition : Zoé Aubry, Sara Bezovšek, Viktoria Binschtok, Sara Cwynar, Éamonn Freel & Lynski, Dina Kelberman, Michael Mandiberg, Joiri Minaya, Simone C Niquille, Jon Rafman, Jenny Rova, Hito Steyerl, Noura Tafeche, Ellie Wyatt

An exhibition by Fotomuseum Winterthur. Curators: Marco De Mutiis, Doris Gassert, Alessandra Nappo.