Thomas Ruff Figurative Photography

Thomas Ruff (b. 1958) is a contemporary German photographer and one of the most prominent members of the Düsseldorf School. While Ruff is not considered an appropriation artist, his practice often includes adopting and manipulating a wide variety of existing photographic images to critique their creation, function and their role in visual culture/society. With his "Nudes" series, he expanded on the central themes of his oeuvre by digitally altering erotic or pornographic images culled from the Internet. As his chosen images get stretched and blurred, the original tone/function of the picture is destabilized and softened in a painterly haze. Suddenly a slight manipulation and the categorization of the image is elevated. Ruff raises provocative questions about image classification, hierarchies with his Duchampian approach in the era of the Internet. He literally and figuratively blurs the distinction between pornography and formalist nude photography. This image, arguably one of the most iconic works from the "Nudes" series has several allusions; such as Gerhard Richter's "Ema" from 1966 Today, examples of Thomas Ruff's work can be found in museum collections worldwide, including the Art Institute of Chicago; Dallas Museum of Art; Essl Museum, Berlin; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC; The MET; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; National Museum of Photography, Copenhagen; Guggenheim Museum, New York; and Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K.), Ghent, among others. "YV16 (FROM NUDES SERIES)", 2001 Pigment print Signed and numbered in pencil on verso Edition of 50 14"H 9.5"W (image) 29.5"H 23.5"W (sheet) Very good condition Literature: Thomas Ruff Fotografien 1979-heute, exhibition catalogue, Baden-Baden, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, 2001-2002, p. 238 M. Winzen, Thomas Ruff: 1979 to the Present, New York 2003 M. Houellebecq, Thomas Ruff Nudes...