andreas gursky at the national art center in tokyo

’99 cent’ by andreas gursky, 1999
207 x 337 cm
photograph © andreas gursky
courtesy the national art center, tokyo / monika sprueth galerie, cologne

andreas gursky
the national art center, tokyo
now through september 16, 2013

photographs spanning andreas gursky’s 30-year career comprise his first solo show at the national art center in tokyo. the exhibition features over 65 images, characteristic of the german photographer’s signature and complex style, from the 1980s to the present day, including widely celebrated works like ’99 cent’ (1999) and ‘rhein II’ (1999) a print of which sold for USD 4.3 million in 2011. renowned for his large-format, detail-rich images, which demand an immediate physical reaction from the viewer, gursky documents a range of industries, with particular interest in high tech and global markets. some of the works evoke the sublime in urban phenomena — in the connections that constitute globalization in the form of computer networks, international exchanges, and trade relations. his enormous architecture and landscape color photographs, often employing a high point of view, cause in most of us anxious thoughts. we sense the awesomeness of the global economy, dread the worst and struggle with the overwhelming feelings of being terrified.

‘bahrain’ by andreas gursky, 2005
305 x 221.5 cm
photograph © andreas gursky
courtesy the national art center, tokyo / monika sprueth galerie, cologne

through all his work runs a sense of impersonality, a depiction of the structures and patterns of collective existence, often represented by the unitary behaviour of large crowds. the scale, attention to colour and form of his photography can be read as a deliberate challenge to painting’s status as a higher art form. gursky’s distance from cartier-bresson’s dictum of the ‘decisive moment’ and his concomitant rejection of the truth of the candid image is underlined by his use of digital manipulation. his work is comparable to that of contemporaries such as thomas struth, thomas ruff and candida höfer, all of whom were influenced by the documentary approach of bernd and hilla becher.

 
‘pyongyang I’ by andreas gursky
, 2007
307 x 215.5 cm

photograph © andreas gursky

courtesy the national art center, tokyo / monika sprueth galerie, cologne

‘my selection for this exhibition differs from that which I would make for an exhibit in europe. the photographs have been integrated with the acrylic boards so that the article itself is an artwork. one print is allocated to each wall, in installation format. I think that to view this exhibit is synonymous to understanding what my works mean to ‘my present self’. — andreas gursky

‘paris, montparnasse’ by andreas gursky, 1993
205 x 421 cm
photograph © andreas gursky
courtesy the national art center, tokyo / monika sprueth galerie, cologne

‘chicago, board of trade II’ by andreas gursky, 1999
157.4cm x 284cm
photograph © andreas gursky
courtesy the national art center, tokyo / monika sprueth galerie, cologne

‘copan’ by andreas gursky, 2002
photograph © andreas gursky

courtesy the national art center, tokyo / monika sprueth galerie, cologne

‘rhine II’ by andreas gursky, 1999
156.5 x 308.3cm
photograph © andreas gursky
courtesy the national art center, tokyo / monika sprueth galerie, cologne

andreas gursky
was born in 1955 in leipzig, former east germany.
he attended folkwangschule, essen (1978-1981) and studied visual communication under otto steinert and michael schmidt, before attending the staatliche kunstakademie in düsseldorf (1981–87).
gursky lives and works in düsseldorf.