Andreas Gursky. Paris, Montparnasse. 1993.
Chromogenic color print.
6' 8 3/4"x 13' 1 1/4" (205 x 421 cm).
Lent by the artist, courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery, New York,
and Monika Sprüth Galerie, Cologne
© 2001 Andreas Gursky.

Andreas Gursky. May Day IV. 2000.
Chromogenic color print.
6' 9 3/4" x 16' 8" (200 x 500 cm)
Lent by the artist, courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery, New York,
and Monika Sprüth Galerie, Cologne
© 2001 Andreas Gursky.

Andreas Gursky. Tokyo Stock Exchange. 1990.
Chromogenic color print.
6' 2"x 7' 9/16" (188 x 230 cm)
Lent by the artist, courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery, New York,
and Monika Sprüth Galerie, Cologne
© 2001 Andreas Gursky.

Few of us have traveled as widely as Gursky and fewer still have visited such places as the Tokyo stock exchange, the Siemens plant at Karlsruhe, the General Assembly building in Brasília, or the Sha Tin racetrack near Hong Kong. But our omnivorous image industry—the slick illustrations of corporate advertising, the overabundant photography of magazines and newspapers, the ceaselessly roving eye of television—has processed, packaged, and delivered all of this and more. Gursky’s originality lies in the vividness and wit with which he has distilled compelling images from the plenitude of this commercialized image world.

The distinctiveness of this achievement arises from the hybrid character of Gursky’s art, which draws upon a great diversity of precedents, currents, and techniques. He has embraced the gaudy blandishments of advertising without abandoning the keen observations of documentary photography. He has emulated the grandeur of German Romantic painting and the principled reserve of Minimalist abstraction in part by exploring the hyperbolic fictions of digital manipulation. Gursky’s polished, signature style is the fruit of restless experiment; the more he has welcomed divergent and often mutually antagonistic impulses into his art, the more it has become his own.

Gursky’s work sets forth a commanding image of contemporary reality, which may seduce or repel us—or both at once. In any case, his photographs do not so much mirror as embody this gorgeous, cold-hearted spectacle. It is thanks to the artfulness of Gursky’s fictions that we recognize his world as our own.

The exhibition Andreas Gursky, on view from March 4 through May 15, was organized by Peter Galassi, Chief Curator, Department of Photography.

This exhibition is made possible by the William Randolph Hearst Endowment Fund. Additional support is provided by The Junior Associates of The Museum of Modern Art. The accompanying publication is made possible by the John Szarkowski Publications Fund.