In his considered approach to the means and possibilities of photography, Thomas Ruff explores a breadth of themes that is reflected in the range of techniques he employs: analogue and digital exposures taken by the artist exist in his practice alongside computer generated imagery, photographs from scientific archives, and pictures culled and manipulated from newspapers, magazines, and the Internet.
Read More
Born in 1958 in Zell am Harmersbach, Germany, Ruff attended the Staatlichen Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf from 1977 to 1985. Since 2000, his work has been represented by David Zwirner. Previous solo exhibitions at the gallery in New York include press++, 2016; photograms and ma.r.s., 2013, Thomas Ruff, 2010 and 2007, New Work, 2005 and 2003, l.m.v.d.r., 2001, and nudes, 2000. In 2016, New Works marked his ninth solo exhibition at David Zwirner and his first at the London gallery.
Currently on view at the Whitechapel Gallery in London is a major solo exhibition of Ruff's work from 1979 through 2017 (through January 21, 2018). To coincide with this exhibition, the National Portrait Gallery, London is hosting a solo presentation of the artist's portraits.
In 2017, the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan hosted a major survey of Ruff’s works spanning his entire career. The exhibition was first presented at The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. Ruff was recently selected as a finalist for the Prix Pictet photography’s award and his work will be featured in a group show at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London in Spring 2017.
The artist's work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at prominent venues internationally. Earlier this year, the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan hosted a major survey of Ruff’s works spanning his entire career. The exhibition was first presented at The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. In 2016, the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto (in collaboration with the 2016 Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival) presented Object Relations, a solo presentation of Ruff's work featuring over thirty large-scale photographs from his ongoing series. In 2014, Thomas Ruff: Lichten was presented at Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K.) in Ghent. Consisting of five series by the artist spanning the 1970s to the present day, the exhibition traveled to Kunsthalle Düsseldorf. In 2012, a large-scale, comprehensive survey was presented at Haus der Kunst in Munich. Other recent solo exhibitions include those organized by LWL-Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Münster; Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga, Spain, both 2011; Castello di Rivoli, Turin; Museum für Neue Kunst, Freiburg, Germany; Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, all 2009; Műcsarnok Kunsthalle, Budapest, 2008; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; and Sprengel Museum Hannover, Germany, both 2007.
Work by the artist is held in museum collections worldwide, including The Art Institute of Chicago; Dallas Museum of Art; Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg, Austria; Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; National Museum of Photography, Copenhagen; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; and Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K.), Ghent. He lives and works in Düsseldorf.
Text courtesy David Zwirner.
