Thomas Ruff
dal 1/8/2002 al 30/9/2002
Segnalato da
1/8/2002
Thomas Ruff
Irish Museum of Modern Art - IMMA, Dublin
Photographs 1979 to the Present, over 100 works including his deceptively straightforward shots of architecture and his famous oversized, deadpan Portrait series
The first major exhibition in this country by the acclaimed German photographer
Thomas Ruff opens to the public at the Irish Museum of Modern Art on Friday 2
August 2002. Thomas Ruff: Photographs 1979 to the Present, which comprises over
a 100 works, presents an extensive overview of every facet of the artist's
output, including his deceptively straightforward shots of architecture and
interiors and his famous oversized, deadpan Portrait series, on which he has
been working since 1980.
Thomas Ruff's art explores the objective gaze of the lens and the role of the
viewer, the photographer and the subject. In addition to his interiors and
portraits, he has worked with many other subjects, including landscape,
nightscape, nudes and collage, all of which interrogate the medium of
photography. Ruff has explored many familiar genres and has an uncanny feel for
the ordinary in people, places and objects.
For the first time, in this exhibition and its accompanying catalogue, Ruff's
artistic oeuvre is placed within the overall context of the 15 series of works
he has created to date. Working in series is an integral part of Ruff's work.
He describes the process as being "like a scientist carrying out a series of
experiments ... I am convinced that it is not enough to make a portrait of just
one person if you want to get an idea of the human being, in order to have as
comprehensive a picture as possible, you have to make portraits of as many
people as possible. The same applies to houses, heavenly bodies, newspaper
photos, night shots and so on, right down to sexual fantasies. A single picture
is too little, that is why I work in series."
Born in 1958 in Zell am Harmersbach in the Black Forest, Thomas Ruff acquired
his first camera, a small-format Nikon FTN, at the age of 16. Three years later
he enter the Dusseldorf Art Academy, where he studied under the
highly-influential Bernd Becher. By the age of 23 he was already showing his
works in major galleries in Germany, achieving international acclaim with his
Portraits series in 1987-88. Ruff's work has since been shown throughout
Europe and in the United States, Japan and Israel. In 1992 he took part in
Documenta 9 and in 1995 was represented in the German pavilion at the Venice
Biennale. Since 2000 he has held the post of Professor at the State Academy in
Dusseldorf.
Thomas Ruff: Photographs 1979 to the Present is a touring exhibition organised
by Kunsthalle Baden-Baden. The exhibition is supported by the Institute of
Foreign Cultural Relations, Stuttgart, and the Goethe Institute, Dublin.
A major full-colour publication, published by the Kunsthalle Baden-Baden with an
essay by the curator Dr Matthias Winzen, accompanies the exhibition (price
euro 35.00).
Mr Ian Jeffrey, art historian and writer on the history of photography, will
give a talk on the Thomas Ruff exhibition at IMMA on Thursday 1 August at
11.00am.
Image: Thomas Ruff, Nudes pea 10, 1999, Chromogenic colour print, 102 x 129 cm, 5 + 2 AP
Irish Museum of Modern Art
Royal Hospital Military Road Kilmainham Dublin 8 Ireland
Admission to the exhibition is free.
Opening hours: Tue - Sat 10.00am - 5.30pm
Sun, Bank Holidays 12 noon - 5.30pm
Mondays Closed