Andreas Gursky

by Andreas Gursky, Peter Galassi (Editor)

The big, bold, seductive and surprising color photographs of German photographer Andreas Gursky set forth a stunning image of our contemporary world of high-tech industry, international markets, big-time sports, fast-paced tourism and slick commerce. Tracking the zeitgeist from his native Germany to such far-flung places as Hong Kong, Brasilia, Cairo, New York, Shanghai, Stockholm, Tokyo, Paris, Singapore and Los Angeles, Gursky has earned acclaim at the leading edge of contemporary art with a polished signature style that draws upon a great diversity of ideas, precedents and techniques. Created in collaboration with the artist, this oversize book surveys the fullness of his work to date with gorgeous color plates, generous two-page details, and a wealth of supporting illustrations. The first in-depth study in English of Gursky's art, this book was published in conjunction with a major retrospective at The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Genres: Photography, Art, Nonfiction, Germany, Art and Photography

196 pages, Hardcover

First published August 31, 1998

About the author

Andreas 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.

Reviews

[Paul H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read something like ~14,000 photobooks, and this is #1 for me. All of these photos, particularly the post-1980s stuff, are imprinted so deeply on my consciousness that I'm pretty sure I could sketch out the composition/framing for all of them purely from memory.

One of my favorite photographers, Daniel Everett, described seeing Gursky's Toys'R'Us photo again, many years after it had inspired him to pursue photography, with the simple statement: "I’ve always felt like this picture understood me." And, yes -- this is likely not an uncommon reaction. I saw Gursky's Shanghai photo in a random magazine (Newsweek?) at age 17 and immediately decided that photography was something I needed to be doing. (Even as I type these words I cannot quite believe how good that photo is.)

Anyway, the critical establishment has turned against Gursky (to be fair, his work since 2010 hasn't been amazing) and I think the general consensus is now that he and his fellow students (in Dusseldorf, under the Bechers) are sort of halfway important historically, it was a cute gimmick to have 6' x 9' large-format photos on gallery walls, but we're over all of that now, plus they were copying the New Topographics movement anyway (Gursky was, admittedly, a big fan of New Topographics).

This is false. Esser, Hofer -- and even Struth and Ruff, half the time -- aren't really that impressive. Gursky is ridiculously impressive. His photos work at both an obvious "calendar photography" level and are thus compelling to literally anyone, but they're also deeper in every way, as a commentary on previous painting (Pollock, Richter, etc.) and previous photography, and also formally (Gursky was the first serious photographer to use digital manipulation, etc.), but most importantly as the most effective visual portrayal (at least that I've found) of the empty sublimity of postmodernity.

I've seen a few of these photos in person, in London, L.A., and NYC, and I think the "you have to see his work in person!" thing is not entirely accurate. Photographs are flat, so you're not really missing much vs. seeing in person; also photographs posted in a gallery are literally printed on paper, shockingly enough, so it's not exactly a different format to see a photo in a book. The photos in this book can fill just as much of your visual field as a photograph on a wall (just hold the book closer to your eyes? lol).

MoMA has a free pdf version of this book online here.

[Paul Besley · Rating 5 out of 5]

All I wish is that I could afford just one of his pieces to look at daily.

[Darran Mclaughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andreas Gursky is one of my favourite contemporary artists and he is part of the reason I have been developing a real appreciation for photography over the last year or two. His work cannot be satisfactorily reproduced in a book because of it's massive scale, but this book does as good a job as I have seen. I enjoyed the introductory essay by Peter Galassi which confirmed my gut feeling about Gursky's affinities by pointing out his relationship with Romantic painting, particularly Friedrich, Abstract Expressionism and the work of Gerhard Richter. I picked this book up at half-price on sale at MoMA, which was a bargain. I will return to this book again and again.

[Raymond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gursky's work nearly convinced e to give up painting and drawing. Nearly.

[Rory · Rating 4 out of 5]

This coffee table book was worth lugging home to gaze at all the oversized prints. I don't think i actually READ any part of it.