"The viewer is that instance, which actually makes art authentic in the first place. Reuter leaves it up to the viewer to find his own meanings of truth in the image, which confers authenticity to it. In his series "Memento", he questions the various possibilities of perception and explores how man acquires truth. The objects which adjusts to the center of his reflection are objects he has found mostly by accident. Many in Berlin and some on travels. A contiuity o fragments could be ascertained, which deal with the time period of the Second World War, but Reuter's interest in the history of war is interrupted by findings from the direct past, such as the "Helmet", which is connected to the fall of the Berlin Wall, or the image of a dead rabbit, which allows artistic cross references to the "Feldhase" by Dürer (...).

Another component of orientation are the captions (...) which adjoin the series. The photographs acquire an oddly draw of morbidity through these captions, which stand across from the sleek and aesthetic beauty in a threatening way. They expose the historical backgrounds and the nearer circumstances of the occurrences reflected by the objects, which mostly end with death. Entirely classical subjects center the work "Memento". Life, beauty, momentariness and death."

Vivian Kea

from: Alex Reuter. Memento (printed in the catalogue "Alex Reuter. Memento", Edition J. J. Heckenhauer, Tuebingen/Berlin 2005. The catalogue with the complete text by Vivian Kea can be purchased through the gallery).