Andreas Gursky makes large-scale, color photographs distinctive for their incisive and critical look at the effect of capitalism and globalization on contemporary life. Gursky studied under Bernd and Hilla Becher at the Düsseldorf Kunstakademie in the early 1980s and first adopted a style and method closely following Becher’s systematic approach to photography, creating small, black-and-white prints. Later he began focusing on people at leisure, while highlighting sites of commerce and tourism, making works that draw attention to today’s burgeoning high-tech industry and global markets.
‘99 Cent’, 1999/2016, captured frontally from an elevated viewpoint, is a temple of consumerism. The copiously stacked shelves of the supermarket, which are even reflected in the ceiling, seem to continue far beyond the limits of the frame. The few customers wandering through the aisles are dwarfed by the overwhelming variety of goods on offer and seem to merge into the background. Due to the large amount of detail, the scene becomes almost purely abstract and ornamental.
Gursky’s work adopts the scale and composition of historical landscape paintings. His photographs, seemingly depicting reality, are composed and altered digitally before printing, blurring the line between painting and photography even further.
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