February 2007
Andreas Gursky
German photographer and digital artist Andreas Gursky has spent most of his life in this country, even as his work has traveled the world and brought him international acclaim. His 2001 MOMA show was a critical and popular success, and last May, one of his photographs sold for $2.26 million—the most ever paid for a contemporary photograph. Now, for the first time in nine years, a collection of Gursky's photographs is back in a German museum. From February 17 to May 13, the Haus der Kunst will exhibit 50 of his pieces, representing a span of 18 years of work. More than 1,800 sq. meters has been devoted to the show, and with reason. Gursky's considerations of globalization and capitalism are appropriately oversized. The largest piece in the upcoming show, for example, will measure 188 by 508 centimeters. This format magnifies Gursky's formidable talent, while also giving the pictures another layer of meaning as representations of mass ornaments.
