Thomas Demand
dal 17/12/2001 al 27/1/2002
Segnalato da
17/12/2001
Thomas Demand
Aspen Art Museum, Aspen
German photographer Thomas Demand (b. 1964) is one of the most highly acclaimed artists of his generation. Like many of his contemporaries, his work investigates the nature and process ofphotography while exploring the role of the media in our culture.
German photographer Thomas Demand (b. 1964)
is one of the most highly acclaimed artists of his
generation. Like many of his contemporaries, his
work investigates the nature and process of
photography while exploring the role of the media
in our culture.
Demand begins his process with images of highly
charged locations, usually interiors. He obtains
these images from a variety of sources, including
newspapers, the Internet, and even his own
memory. Demand then builds life-size paper and
cardboard models of these places, which in turn
become the "subjects" of his large-scale
photographs.
While the artificiality of these images may not be immediately apparent, upon detailed
examination, one can see that details are missing (like light switches), and everything has
a hint of peculiarity. In describing his work, Demand has said, "The surroundings that I
portray are, for me, something untouched - a utopic construction. No traces of use are
visible on their surfaces, and time seems to have come to a stop."
The places Demand chooses to depict are always
of note, but not necessarily recognizable. He
uses subjects loaded with content and narrative
using single-word non-specific titles which provide
little help in unraveling the meaning of his work.
Podium, for instance, represents the location
where Serbian dictator Slobadon Milosevic gave a
speech on the occasion of the 600th anniversary
of the Serbian defeat of the Turks. In other works
such as Poll (based on the center in Palm Beach,
Florida, where the presidential election recount
took place), a notorious setting is reduced to an
aesthetic composition of colors and shapes.
Demand thwarts the tradition of photography as a
faithful recorder of people, places, and events. He recently remarked, "I see [the media] as
a vast landscape, a virtual domain with its cities of scandal, its towns of superstars, and its
marsh of murders." In fact, Demand does not work with the natural world but rather with a
media-based universe that is heavily mediated and altered.
Demand has had one-person exhibitions at the Tate Gallery, London; the Frankfurter
Kunstverein; and the Kunsthalle Zurich. A major European survey is planned for later this
year at the Fondation Cartier, Paris. His work has also been exhibited in group exhibitions
at the Museum of Modern Art; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; the Walker Art
Center; the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; the Sydney and Berlin Biennials,
and the 1999-2000 Carnegie International.
This exhibition is Demand's first one-person exhibition in the United States and will consist
of approximately fourteen of his large-scale photographs, as well as a film work. Organized
by the Aspen Art Museum, the Demand exhibition makes its premier at ArtPace in San
Antonio, Texas, where it will be on view from September 6 - November 25, 2001. Following
the Aspen presentation, the exhibition will travel to SITE Santa Fe from March 13 - May 26,
2002. An 80-page, full-color catalogue with essays by exhibition curator Dean Sobel and
Lars Lerup will accompany the exhibition.
Organized by the Aspen Art Museum. Major funding provided by Sotheby's and the AAM National Council.
Additional support provided by Charles and Peggy Balbach, Elizabeth L. Barbatelli, Frannie Dittmer in memory
of Randy Beier, Richard and Sylvia Kaufman, Robert and Nancy Magoon, Dennis and Debra Scholl, Paul and
June Schorr, Paul and Gayle Stoffel, and the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, e.V., Stuttgart.
Image: Thomas Demand, "Studio", 1997
Aspen Art Museum
590 North Mill Street
Aspen, Colorado 81611
970.925.8050 phone
970.925.8054 fax