Peter Roehr

Untitled (FO-96), 1966

Peter Roehr’s first photomontages were inspired by an advertising campaign for Maxwell coffee in autumn 1964. The images were cut directly from proofs, and were mounted on a solid background, without prior manipulation. Roehr created appr. 130 photomontages between 1964 and 1966; among these was the large group of montages from the Volkswagen and Chevrolet advertising brochures. The artistic decision only applied to the selection of the raw material and the number and organisation of the various elements. Roehr was endeavouring to find a defining point between a small collection and a large quantity, where the individual image is still distinctly recognisable while at the same time connecting with its montage environment in such a way as to repeat the form and color structures of the individual images in serial multiplications.