TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – After showcasing in Shanghai and Paris, German artist Thomas Demand's retrospective exhibition makes a stop at Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM) and features nearly 70 works from the 1990s to the present.
A Goldsmiths University of London alumnus, Demand collaborates with the Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography, the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, and TFAM, for this world tour exhibition, curated by Douglas Fogle.
Demand's artistic journey began with paper and cardboard sculptures when he discovered the disparity between physical objects and their two-dimensional photographic representations. This insight led him to develop an artistic methodology of constructing objects specifically for photographic capture.
“I guess the core of it is making the world into a model by redoing it and stripping off the anecdotal part, that is when it becomes an allegory, and the project becomes a metaphor," said Demand, "Making models is a cultural technique — without it we would be blind.”
His signature technique involves reconstructing scenes using intricate paper materials from documentary images. He photographs these reconstructions, capturing near-identical images before systematically destroying the models and reproducing them through large-format photography.
Demand's works are hauntingly serene yet intensely proactive. He predominantly sources materials from historical and social reportage, reimagining moments that have shaped global narratives.
His images are surrealistic, featuring seemingly harmonious yet subtly conflicting color and spatial compositions.
The exhibition showcases pivotal works like "The Room" which depicts Hitler's near-assassination site in 1944; "Folders" documenting Donald Trump's 2017 press conference with stacked business ownership transfer documents; and "Control Room" capturing Fukushima's abandoned nuclear facility control room post-311 earthquake.
Since 2008, Demand has transitioned from grand historical narratives to everyday subjects, applying his signature technique to mundane objects like paper cups and sticky notes. This shift creates a compelling dialogue between the extraordinary and the ordinary.
TFAM highlighted Demand's exploration of paper's fragile capacity to preserve images and memories, whether capturing momentous historical events or fleeting daily experiences.
His work provocatively interrogates the relationship between photographic representation and reality, challenging viewers' perceptions of image culture and cognitive understanding.
(Taiwan News, Lyla Liu video)