“zycles 3075” (2009), part of the new show of Thomas Ruff’s works at David Zwirner Gallery.
The David Zwirner Gallery is currently showing Thomas Ruff’s sixth solo exhibition at the gallery. On view are two new series by the artist, whose photography has explored landscape, the nude, portraiture and even architecture through appropriated, computer-generated, and traditional images. “zycles” and “cassini,” at David Zwirner through March 13, draw in patrons as they notice the details that yield a snowballing structural complexity.
Thomas Ruff, “cassini 26” (2009), at David Zwirner.
More images and story after the jump…
Thomas Ruff’s “zycles 6024” (2009), at David Zwirner.
“zycles” is a set of screen grabs of curve models based on cycloids, obtained by rolling a second curve along an initial, fixed one. These are translated algebraically by Ruff into the pieces that make up “zycles,” in an exploration of math and aesthetic toward the end of a new minimalism. “cassini” infuses NASA’s grayscale photographs of Saturn with color, emphasizing the tension between concrete form and abstract composition, the subject and minimalist artist. At David Zwirner, the two series are not presented separately; instead, they are mixed in with each other. A gallerist tells me that this decision is simply in response to their chronological simultaneity; the effect, however, is a contrast between the ways that computer and subject impose themselves on the artist, and vice versa.
Thomas Ruff’s “cassini 28” (2009), at David Zwirner.
Thomas Ruff’s “zycles 3090” (2009), at David Zwirner.
Thomas Ruff’s “cassini 24” (2009) at David Zwirner.
Thomas Ruff’s “zycles 4070” (2009), at David Zwirner.
Thomas Ruff’s “cassini 27” (2009), at David Zwirner.
Thomas Ruff’s “zycles 3080” (2009), at David Zwirner.
Thomas Ruff’s “cassini 25” (2009), at David Zwirner.
Born in Harmersbach, Germany, Thomas Ruff studied at the National Academy of the Arts in Düsseldorf, where he lives and works. He has had solo exhibitions at Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Photography; Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin; Guggenheim Bilbao; White Cube, London; and more. The 2006 recipient of the Infinity Award for Art, Ruff has work in the collections of major museums including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; and more.
Thomas Ruff’s “zycles 3085” (2009), at David Zwirner.
Thomas Ruff’s “cassini 29” (2009), at David Zwirner.
Thomas Ruff’s “zycles 3095” (2009), at David Zwirner.
Thomas Ruff’s “cassini 30” (2009), at David Zwirner.
Thomas Ruff’s “zycles 3078” (2009), at David Zwirner.
Thomas Ruff’s “cassini 31” (2009), at David Zwirner.
Thomas Ruff’s “zycles 4020” (2009), at David Zwirner.
Thomas Ruff’s “cassini 32” (2009), at David Zwirner.
Thomas Ruff’s “zycles 4078” (2009), at David Zwirner.
Thomas Ruff’s “cassini 33” (2009), at David Zwirner.
– R. Fogel
Related links:
David Zwirner [Gallery Page]
Thomas Ruff Debuts New York in Sixth Solo Exhibition [Artdaily]
