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Andreas Gursky
Andreas Gursky has been widely celebrated for his monumental, extraordinarily detailed pictures, often exploring contemporary global themes. This comprehensive book takes a fresh look at the artist’s iconic images from the past four decades.
In a landmark conversation between two of the most significant figures in contemporary photography, Gursky talks to Jeff Wall about the sources for his photographic vision, while an essay by Hayward Gallery director Ralph Rugoff explores important but often neglected areas of the artist’s work. Essays by art historian Gerald Schröder and writer-curator Brian Sholis provide new insight into key pictures, and artist Katharina Fritsch offers personal snapshots of her Düsseldorf colleague, creating a portrait of the artist in the round. Presenting the artist’s best-known works—including “Paris, Montparnasse” (1993), “99 Cent” (2001) and “Chicago Board of Trade III” (2009)—as well as new, previously unpublished photographs, this is an indispensable survey of 40 years of work from one of the world’s most influential artists.
Regarded as one of the most important photographers of our time, Andreas Gursky (born 1955) is known for his large-scale, often spectacular pictures that portray emblematic sites and scenes of the global economy and contemporary life. From the work of the late 1980s, produced after Gursky had graduated from Bernd Becher’s class at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, through to his most recent photographs which continue to push the boundaries of the medium, Gursky’s art has been driven by an interest in forms of collective existence. This includes depictions of massive man-made structures and huge gatherings of people in nightclubs, factories, arenas and vast landscapes, which together provide a sweeping visual record of our age. Steidl has published Gursky’s Andreas Gursky (2015) and Bangkok (2012).
In a landmark conversation between two of the most significant figures in contemporary photography, Gursky talks to Jeff Wall about the sources for his photographic vision, while an essay by Hayward Gallery director Ralph Rugoff explores important but often neglected areas of the artist’s work. Essays by art historian Gerald Schröder and writer-curator Brian Sholis provide new insight into key pictures, and artist Katharina Fritsch offers personal snapshots of her Düsseldorf colleague, creating a portrait of the artist in the round. Presenting the artist’s best-known works—including “Paris, Montparnasse” (1993), “99 Cent” (2001) and “Chicago Board of Trade III” (2009)—as well as new, previously unpublished photographs, this is an indispensable survey of 40 years of work from one of the world’s most influential artists.
Regarded as one of the most important photographers of our time, Andreas Gursky (born 1955) is known for his large-scale, often spectacular pictures that portray emblematic sites and scenes of the global economy and contemporary life. From the work of the late 1980s, produced after Gursky had graduated from Bernd Becher’s class at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, through to his most recent photographs which continue to push the boundaries of the medium, Gursky’s art has been driven by an interest in forms of collective existence. This includes depictions of massive man-made structures and huge gatherings of people in nightclubs, factories, arenas and vast landscapes, which together provide a sweeping visual record of our age. Steidl has published Gursky’s Andreas Gursky (2015) and Bangkok (2012).
- GenresPhotography
168 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2018
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20 people want to read
About the author
Andreas Gursky
39 books2 followersAndreas Gursky is a German artist known for his large-scale digitally manipulated images. Similar in scope to early 19th-century landscape paintings, Gursky’s photographs capture built and natural environments on a grand scale. Often taken from a lofted vantage point, the artist latter splices together multiple images of the same scene. This dizzying repetition of elements creates a surreal monumentality, as seen in his 99 Cent (1999). “In retrospect I can see that my desire to create abstractions has become more and more radical,” he mused. “Art should not be delivering a report on reality, but should be looking at what's behind something.”
Born January 15, 1955 in Leipzig, East Germany, he studied alongside fellow student Thomas Ruff under Bernd and Hilla Becher at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in the 1980s. The Becher’s penchant for systematic documentation as a conceptual framework had a profound impact on Gursky’s photography. Emerging in the 1990s, the artist established himself as an important figure in contemporary German art, going on to be the subject of retrospectives at the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf in 1998 and in 2001 at The Museum of Modern Art in New York. On November 8, 2011, his photograph Rhein II sold at Christie's New York for $4.3 million, making it the most expensive photograph ever sold. Today, Gursky’s works are in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Tate Modern in London. He lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Born January 15, 1955 in Leipzig, East Germany, he studied alongside fellow student Thomas Ruff under Bernd and Hilla Becher at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in the 1980s. The Becher’s penchant for systematic documentation as a conceptual framework had a profound impact on Gursky’s photography. Emerging in the 1990s, the artist established himself as an important figure in contemporary German art, going on to be the subject of retrospectives at the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf in 1998 and in 2001 at The Museum of Modern Art in New York. On November 8, 2011, his photograph Rhein II sold at Christie's New York for $4.3 million, making it the most expensive photograph ever sold. Today, Gursky’s works are in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Tate Modern in London. He lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany.
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May 21, 2018
As of 2018, the best and most affordable single-volume collection of Gursky's work (only $40 at the moment, which is a steal). The only downside is that the photos themselves could stand to be somewhat larger (the book's dimensions fall short of the massive 2001 MoMA exhibition volume), but the Steidl volume has the great advantage of including Gursky's most recent work, some of which is not available anywhere else in published form. (Also the introductory essay and Jeff Wall interview are amazing.)
Displaying 1 of 1 review