Since 1970, Frankfurter Sparkasse has operated the 1822-Forum as a non-commercial gallery in downtown Frankfurt. Here, artists from Frankfurt and the surrounding area have the space and opportunity to organize their first own exhibitions and realise an exhibition catalogue. At a vernissage and the subsequent six-week exhibition period, they present their works to the public. Mathias Ulrich from the Schirn Kunsthalle writes about the exhibition: “The digital diary for “Baby du Champ” provides the following information, namely that the toddler named Baby du Champ lives in Frankfurt am Main and likes to be photographed in exhibitions. Baby du Champ obviously also likes being instrumentalized by someone for his own purposes, because it’s unlikely that the toddler of an estimated two years can write and manage his own website, nor is he particularly interested in exhibitions. The latter is based on mere, distanced assumption and resembles scientific speculation about speechless things and living things in general. In fact, Baby du Champ shows no conspicuous signs of displeasure in the selected photographs; on the contrary, it seems curious, amused, or even indifferent in the white cubes. Such a range can also be found in an adult audience of exhibitions, who recently have themselves photographed in a similar way to Baby du Champ or photograph themselves in order to share their cultural activities with others interested in the same activities.
