Thomas Struth
29 Jan - 12 Mar 2005
Enigmatic messages –
of mysterious landmarks in the desert south of the Peruvian city Nasca as well as the invitation to participate in the 26th Biennal of São Paulo have inspired the artist Thomas Struth to travel to South America in fall 2003. This body of work which is on view for the first time at Galerie Max Hetzler in Berlin is due to the Biennal's motto No man's land and due to the inspiration of the genesis and function of the so called geoglyphs, the astonishing prehistorical icons of flora and fauna of the Nasca culture (200 b.C. – 600 a.D.) which, with extremely simple technical methods, cover an immense desert plateau.
With his large format photographs of Peru, Thomas Struth, as an obsessive observer of urban and cultural structures – especially visible in his well known central perspective photographs of streets and in his family portraits – puts the focus on the importance of the landscape in respect to the origin and evolution of culture. No man's land seems to be rather a romantic utopia, known to us today only from western and adventure films. The appropriation of nature is one of the most existential tasks of mankind.
Seeing the man on the left side of Nasca Lines 1 (2003), the viewer can feel the enormous dimensions of the landscape. In contrast to Thomas Struth's mostly busy street scenes, endless wideness of the almost untouched nature predominates. Apparently, Kant's epistomology about the sublime of nature experiences a contemporary and visual expression. The artist transcends the astonishment about the mysterious messages of the landmarks in the sandy soil of the rainless desert between Andes and Pacific in favour of a universal picture language. In comparison to the photographs from the border between California and Nevada, which have been shown at Galerie Max Hetzler in 2001, the artist underlines in the exhibition catalogue: „The sparsely populated American landscapes as well as an definitely audible silence open up the space for timeless connotations [...]." Thomas Struth's pictures are related to the abstract and highly artistical achievements of the Nasca people and in an almost referential way they show the archaic relation between human and nature.
The sandy monochrome view of the Cerro Morro Solar (2003) reminds us of Bruegel's Tower of Babel. The mountain looms above the nested favelas. Or would it be better to say that the little huts proudly dominate the mountain? Here, the appropriation of nature has taken place in an improvisational and unplanned way. These microcosmic cells of life have built a colourful woven belt around the monotone landscape. Struth does not judge but creates a certain remoteness, thus adding truth to the pictures.
This distance is programmatic but, as his small format street scenes show, is in a certain way redeemed. Struth's peculiar curiousity for architecture and scenography requests an immersion into the Peruvian world and culminates in the overflowing baroque church interior of the Iglesia de San Francisco (2003). Hitting the photograph's edge, the church benches are apparently holding a seat for the observer to invite him to take part in the never-ending loop of the church service. The attentive observer will discover analogies in Struth's oeuvre: the structure of the image is similar to the Venetian church San Zaccaria (1995). In this case, instead of Bellini's venerably enthroned madonna with child, a shiny blue, almost salsa dancing sculpture in the centre of the image testifies a fervid religiousness.
This body of work from Peru is again an indication that the artist is continuously and conceptually prosecuting an overall idea of his work. The question is whether Paradise 26 (Bougainville, 2003) constitutes the endpoint or another initiation for further photographs from the Paradise series?
Thomas Struth was born in Geldern (Lower Rhine) in 1954. He studied photography under Bernd and Hilla Becher and painting under Gerhard Richter at the Academy of Arts in Düsseldorf between 1981 and 1986. From 1993 to 1996, Thomas Struth had a professorship at the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung in Karlsruhe. He lives and works in Düsseldorf.
For further information please contact the gallery at +49(0)30 229 24 37
© Image: Thomas Struth, Herodes del Pacifico, Lima, Peru, 2003
C-print, 44,6 x 58 cm, 72 x 84 cm, framed, Edition of 10
of mysterious landmarks in the desert south of the Peruvian city Nasca as well as the invitation to participate in the 26th Biennal of São Paulo have inspired the artist Thomas Struth to travel to South America in fall 2003. This body of work which is on view for the first time at Galerie Max Hetzler in Berlin is due to the Biennal's motto No man's land and due to the inspiration of the genesis and function of the so called geoglyphs, the astonishing prehistorical icons of flora and fauna of the Nasca culture (200 b.C. – 600 a.D.) which, with extremely simple technical methods, cover an immense desert plateau.
With his large format photographs of Peru, Thomas Struth, as an obsessive observer of urban and cultural structures – especially visible in his well known central perspective photographs of streets and in his family portraits – puts the focus on the importance of the landscape in respect to the origin and evolution of culture. No man's land seems to be rather a romantic utopia, known to us today only from western and adventure films. The appropriation of nature is one of the most existential tasks of mankind.
Seeing the man on the left side of Nasca Lines 1 (2003), the viewer can feel the enormous dimensions of the landscape. In contrast to Thomas Struth's mostly busy street scenes, endless wideness of the almost untouched nature predominates. Apparently, Kant's epistomology about the sublime of nature experiences a contemporary and visual expression. The artist transcends the astonishment about the mysterious messages of the landmarks in the sandy soil of the rainless desert between Andes and Pacific in favour of a universal picture language. In comparison to the photographs from the border between California and Nevada, which have been shown at Galerie Max Hetzler in 2001, the artist underlines in the exhibition catalogue: „The sparsely populated American landscapes as well as an definitely audible silence open up the space for timeless connotations [...]." Thomas Struth's pictures are related to the abstract and highly artistical achievements of the Nasca people and in an almost referential way they show the archaic relation between human and nature.
The sandy monochrome view of the Cerro Morro Solar (2003) reminds us of Bruegel's Tower of Babel. The mountain looms above the nested favelas. Or would it be better to say that the little huts proudly dominate the mountain? Here, the appropriation of nature has taken place in an improvisational and unplanned way. These microcosmic cells of life have built a colourful woven belt around the monotone landscape. Struth does not judge but creates a certain remoteness, thus adding truth to the pictures.
This distance is programmatic but, as his small format street scenes show, is in a certain way redeemed. Struth's peculiar curiousity for architecture and scenography requests an immersion into the Peruvian world and culminates in the overflowing baroque church interior of the Iglesia de San Francisco (2003). Hitting the photograph's edge, the church benches are apparently holding a seat for the observer to invite him to take part in the never-ending loop of the church service. The attentive observer will discover analogies in Struth's oeuvre: the structure of the image is similar to the Venetian church San Zaccaria (1995). In this case, instead of Bellini's venerably enthroned madonna with child, a shiny blue, almost salsa dancing sculpture in the centre of the image testifies a fervid religiousness.
This body of work from Peru is again an indication that the artist is continuously and conceptually prosecuting an overall idea of his work. The question is whether Paradise 26 (Bougainville, 2003) constitutes the endpoint or another initiation for further photographs from the Paradise series?
Thomas Struth was born in Geldern (Lower Rhine) in 1954. He studied photography under Bernd and Hilla Becher and painting under Gerhard Richter at the Academy of Arts in Düsseldorf between 1981 and 1986. From 1993 to 1996, Thomas Struth had a professorship at the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung in Karlsruhe. He lives and works in Düsseldorf.
For further information please contact the gallery at +49(0)30 229 24 37
© Image: Thomas Struth, Herodes del Pacifico, Lima, Peru, 2003
C-print, 44,6 x 58 cm, 72 x 84 cm, framed, Edition of 10