The National Portrait Gallery in London presents works from the artist’s acclaimed series
September 27, 2017–January 21, 2018
Thomas Ruff Portraits presented selected works from the artist’s ongoing Portraits series begun in 1981. In response to his research into portraiture while at art school in Düsseldorf, Ruff resolved to photograph his subjects in a way that would be as neutral as possible. The sitters, many of them friends of the artist, are photographed in their own clothes against a blank background, and were asked to keep their faces expressionless. The resulting portraits are presented as large scale, highly detailed works.
This exhibition coincided with the major retrospective Thomas Ruff: Photographs 1979-2017 at Whitechapel Gallery in London.