Marian Goodman Gallery is pleased to continue our artist-centric newsletter IN FOCUS, where we take the time to delve deeply into one artist on the MGG roster at a time
 | Thomas Struth at the Hilti Art Foundation in Vaduz, Liechtenstein in 2019. Image © Drako Todorovic.
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Marian Goodman Gallery is pleased to continue our artist-centric newsletter IN FOCUS, where we take the time to delve deeply into one artist on the MGG roster at a time. Aiming to show a fuller picture of the breadth of our artists' careers, we will feature our favorite stories, podcasts, interviews, artists’ writings, and videos from the archive, as well as new and upcoming projects.
Thomas Struth (b. 1954 in Geldern, Germany) is best known for his genre-defying photographs, though, he began originally with painting before he enrolled at the Kunstakademie, Düsseldorf in 1973. Struth has developed his individual photographic practice, often penetrating places of the human imagination in order to scrutinize the landscape of invention, technology, and beyond (as in his recent CERN and Animal images). Celebrated for his diverse body of work – Unconscious Places, Familienleben (Family Life), Museum Photographs, New Pictures from Paradise and Nature & Politics – Struth continues to advance his vocabulary with each new series, while maintaining the same principles core to his practice.
Today, follow along as we explore the many facets and “precise observations” of Struth's career. ↓
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WE ARE LISTENING TO...
A performance of classical guitarist Frank Bungarten from January 2020, as part of the closing program curated by Struth accompanying his exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. In his work, Struth shows a deep interest in the public's collective experience of art and music—specifically, how they are affected while visiting an exhibition or attending a concert. "The nature and terminology of the many elements involved in music can be applied just as easily to other artistic fields," Struth says. Bungarten’s rich compositions have long provided inspiration for Struth, and they have collaborated for many years as close friends.
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WE ARE READING...
Graham Bader's February 2019 ARTFORUM review, where he discusses Struth's ongoing "Nature & Politics" series (2007 – Present), featuring imagery of "environments and devices that have been built to ensure their individual parts produce a specific end effect..." By isolating such details in places such as Disneyland and select research labs, Struth creates a convergence of “sublime human ingenuity and organizational intelligence.”
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WE ARE WATCHING...
Bloomberg's 2017 video on Struth, as a part of their "Brilliant Ideas" series. Beginning with his education in post-War Germany – looking at his transition from painting to photography – and then following his travels to New York City (and beyond), we get a glimpse into Struth's artistic inclinations and image making process.
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