Losers’ Paradise , 2024

Series of inkjet prints and mixed media, variable sizes

The catalyst for LOSERS' PARADISE was a haunting event: a fire set in an exhibition in summer 1942 in Berlin. The responsible for this act of terror was the pro-communist, predominantly Jewish Baum Group. The group set fire to the anti-Soviet mega-exhibition ‘The Soviet Paradise’. Taking the historical attack as a starting point, Katz's series explores three moments from Berlin's decline in 1942-45, creating a sub-narrative that merges historical details with contemplative interpretation. In her process, Katz begins by isolating specific details from historical photographs, capturing singular gestures and objects that transcend their era, prioritizing tangible presence over historical discourse. The initial cropped photo evolves then into much larger nonlinear multichannel compositions that drift and flicker, emanating a dream-like fluctuation. Through LOSERS’ PARADISE, Katz guides viewers on a journey across Berlin that weaves past and present: from the Lustgarten in Mitte, site of 'The Soviet Paradise' exhibition, to the Museum Berlin Karlshorst, where World War II officially ended, and finally to Weissensee, where personal and historical landmarks converge: the Baum Group memorial, the 404 | BAI gallery and Katz’s own temporary shelter from war.

Xplosion begins with a photograph of uniformed visitors at 'The Soviet Paradise' exhibition. From this historical document, a cropped fragment evolves into an imagined depiction of the Baum Group's historic attack on the exhibition. 15 Minutes To Surrender reimagines the table where the World War II surrender papers were signed in May 1945. Drawing from original photographs of this historic moment, Katz carefully selects and recomposes objects from the scene. If You Need A Place To Stay Let Me Know originates from a photograph Katz captured in her hotel room near the Weissensee Jewish Cemetery, situated on Herbert Baum Street—named for the Baum Group's leader who was revered as a hero in the former GDR. Losers' Dream focuses on two small figures glimpsed in the background of a photograph showing Wehrmacht leaders leaving the building after signing the surrender papers, while being documented by Soviet photographers from several angles. Throughout these works, Katz weaves historical documents and facts into scenes that blur the line between dramatic and intimate, incorporating elements of the mundane and even humorous. In doing so, she celebrates the inherently unstable nature of historical narratives.