Charles Howard-Keyes

Charles Howard-Keyes (b. London, 1987) is an artist and architect based in Berlin, Germany. Charles’ intrigue in the urban and metropolis is mostly captured through his photography: his series, ‘Facelift’, exhibited in Berlin, is a collection of black and white photography collages, primarily inspired by current controversial reconstructions of certain historical landmarks in the German city.

In this series of photography collages, he manipulates and experiments with the raw images in order to convey his own vision. Bringing into question as to whether these reconstructions are being honest with their époque and audience by falsifying value with historical ornaments? It is somewhat surprising that, almost a century after Germany has ceased to be a monarchy, attempts are still underway to recreate some of its lost classic and royal architecture. Upon these pretensions, the artist therefore offers his own tongue-in-cheek interpretation throughout the city by undressing buildings, stripping them entirely of their fake facades and value, bathing them in concrete to stand tall and proud, exposing nothing but mass and volume.