Thomas DEMAND<br/>
German 1964–<br/>
<em>Kontrollraum / Control Room</em> 2011 <br/>
C-Print / Perspex<br/>
200.0 × 300.0 cm <br/>
Courtesy Taka Ishii Gallery, Sprüth Magers Berlin London, Esther Schipper, Berlin, Matthew Marks Gallery<br/>
© Thomas Demand, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn / VISCOPY, Sydney

Thomas Demand

NGV International

Ground Level

30 Nov 12 – 17 Mar 13

Organised with The Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo

Thomas Demand is regarded as one of the world’s leading contemporary artists whose work in photography and, most recently stop-animation films, is at the forefront of contemporary art.  Demand initially worked as a sculptor who used photography to document his ephemeral creations.  From 1993 his creative practice changed and, from then on, he made sculptures for the sole purpose of photographing them.  Demand begins with an image, often taken from media sources and frequently dealing with traumatic or politically important events, and creates a life-size replica of the image using paper and cardboard.  The effect of these uncanny reconstructions is to destabilise our understanding of the sites which we ‘know’ so well through reproduction. This exhibition features a selection of photographs and 35mm films as chosen by the artist.

The solitude of the picture