Thomas Struth
10.02.2019 - 01.19.2020
The images of Thomas Struth (b. 1954, Geldern, Germany) receive their signature character from the questions he asks himself—and his viewers—about the relevance of public space, the unifying momentum of family ties, the significance of nature and culture, and the limits and possibilities of new technologies. Struth succeeds in transforming fundamental themes, such as the instability of social structures and the fragility of human existence, into images of formal elegance that elicit the audience’s participation and empathy. Observers are thus transformed from viewers into partners, investigating these same social, ethical, and humane values. Thomas Struth offers a comprehensive journey through more than four decades of work by the pioneering German photographer that highlights the social concerns that have driven the evolution of his influential art over the many stages of his career.
This presentation connects Struth’s initial concepts—seen in the archival material that the artist has collected over the years—to his well-defined groups of finished works, from his first series, Unconscious Places, to his Family Portraits, Museum Photographs, Audience, New Pictures from Paradise, and This Place. These establish a dialogue with other works, such as Berlin Project, a video conceived in 1997 in collaboration with media artist Klaus vom Bruch, and the landscape and flower photographs created for the wards of Lindberg hospital, later compiled in the monograph Dandelion Room, as well as the most recent groups Nature & Politics and Animals.
Exhibition organized by Haus der Kunst, Munich, in collaboration with the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
Curators: Thomas Weski y Lucía Agirre
Thomas Struth
Kyoko and Tomoharu Murakami, Tokyo 1991
Inkjet print
151 x 187 cm
© Thomas Struth
The Exhibition
Thomas Struth
Crosby Street, Soho, New York 1978
Inkjet print
66 x 84 cm
© Thomas Struth
Thomas Struth
Eleonor and Giles Robertson, Edinburgh 1987
Inkjet print
68 x 86 cm
© Thomas Struth
Thomas Struth
Archive, installation detail, Thomas Struth: Figure Ground at Haus der Kunst, May 5, 2017 – January 07, 2018
Photo: © Maximilian Geuter
Thomas Struth
Pergamon Museum 1, Berlin 2001
Chromogenic print
197.4 x 248.6 cm
© Thomas Struth
Thomas Struth
Audience 07, Florence 2004 (Audience 07, Florenz 2004)
Chromogenic print
179.5 x 288.3 cm
Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf
© Thomas Struth
Thomas Struth
Paradise 26, Palpa, Peru 2003
Chromogenic print
211.5 x 168.6 cm
© Thomas Struth
Thomas Struth
Mount Bental, Golan Heights 2011
Inkjet print
129.2 x 161.5 cm
Courtesy Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin│Paris│London
© Thomas Struth
Thomas Struth
Thomas Struth with Klaus vom Bruch
Berlin Project, 1997
Video installation (four channel, videoprojection)
Photo: © Maximilian Geuter
Thomas Struth: Figure Ground at Haus der Kunst, May 5, 2017 – January 07, 2018
© Thomas Struth
Thomas Struth
Bright sunflowers – No. 1, Winterthur 1991 (Helle Sonnenblumen– Nr 1, Winterthur 1991)
Chromogenic print
84 x 66 cm
Viehof Collection
© Thomas Struth
Thomas Struth
Thomas Struth with Frank Bungarten
Read This Like Seeing It For The First Time, 2003
Video installation (two channel, videoprojection)
Photo: © Maximilian Geuter
Thomas Struth: Figure Ground at Haus der Kunst, May 5, 2017 – January 07, 2018
© Thomas Struth
Thomas Struth
Full-scale Mock-up 2, JSC, Houston 2017
Inkjet print
208.1 x 148.5 cm
MAST Foundation Collection
© Thomas Struth
Thomas Struth
Grévy’s zebra (Equus grevyi), Leibniz IZW, Berlin 2017 [Zebra (Equus grevyi), Leibniz IZW, Berlin 2017]
Inkjet print
160.5 x 223.5 cm
Courtesy Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin│Paris│London
© Thomas Struth
Did you
know that...?
A Silent Look and an Art that Resonates
As part of the project Didaktika, the museum designs educational spaces and organizes activities that complement its exhibitions
Music and Art
Across different stages of the learning and creating process, common elements can be found in the working dynamics of artists and musiciansRecurring Themes
Thomas Struth belongs to a group of artists known as the School of Düsseldorf. In 1976, Bernd Becher—who taught with his partner Hilla Becher