Thomas Struth, 2009

Urban Spaces: Andreas Gursky, Candida Höfer, Axel Hütte, Thomas Ruff, Thomas Struth

From 30.05.09 / To 26.07.09

Curator: Ludovico Pratesi
In collaboration with: Benedetta Carpi De Resmini

Coordinators: Camila Jurado / Aime Iglesias Lukin
Organization, Production, Exhibition Design and Graphic Design: Fundación Proa

Sponsored by Tenaris – Organización Techint
With the Collaboration from the Goethe Institute, Buenos Aires

From May 30th until the end of July, Fundación Proa presents in its exhibition halls Urban Spaces: Andreas Gursky, Candida Höfer, Axel Hütte, Thomas Ruff, Thomas Struth, curated by Ludovico Pratesi, researcher and photography specialist.  The show will analyze the evolution on the concept of the city in contemporary culture through the ideas and images produced by the members of the so called Düsseldorf School of Photography, composed by its five most distinguished artists: Andreas Gursky, Candida Höfer, Axel Hütte, Thomas Ruff, Thomas Struth.
The influence of the artists on the art global context is due to the overhaul their works produced on the tradition of the concept and language of photography, not only through the scale of the images in their monumental format, but also through the conceptual treatment they present. Each piece recreates a unique and defined universe that concentrates in the interrelation that exists between man and his surroundings together with all its anthropological and sociocultural implications.
Urban Spaces: Andreas Gursky, Candida Höfer, Axel Hütte, Thomas Ruff, Thomas Struth, presents approximately 50 works that range from the early 1980s until current times, all of them with a common denominator: the concept of the city. The exhibition is designed to take the visitor, first through the artists early works - those produced during their formative years at the Düsseldorf School - continuing with their most recent body of work, in which an individual selection from each artist will emphasize their stylistic differences and personal characteristics.
The body of work exhibited is composed through the Loan of the works by each of the artists, as well as museums, art institutions and private collections.
Our exhibition is sponsored by Tenaris and Organización Techint, and counts with the collaboration from the Goethe  Institute, Buenos Aires.

Exhibition Catalogue
The exhibition catalogue, conformed by approximately 200 pages, including large prints of the photographs exhibited and referential images, will be a bilingual publication, becoming one of the first Spanish catalogues for the joint group.
Each artist will count with a special section that will include an unpublished interview and a small biography. The critical essays by curator Ludovico Pratesi, and acclaimed art critics such as Armin Zweite, Pablo Perulli, and Valeria González, give clear evidence not only of the contradictions and problematics of the contemporary city, but also of the history behind the Düsseldorf School of Photography, and the artists influence in the artistic expression and revolutionary input on the photographic medium within the global context.

Ariel Dorfman in Proa

The writer Ariel Dorfman visited Proa’s Bookstore  to record an interview that will be emitted in The History Channel.  Coauthor of the classic Para leer al Pato Donald – along with A. Mattelart-, the writer visits Argentina because of the launch of his new American novel, Americanos, los pasos de Murieta, that will be presented in the International Fair of the Book of Buenos Aires.  During his visit to the Bookstore, Dorfman  was surprised upon seeing the books of Eloísa Cartonera.  “¡They are books of artists!”, he exclaimed set against the covers of cardboard painted by hand.  Then, for more than one hour, Dorfman  spoke of the history of Latin America, the processes of independence and the current situation of the countries of the continent.  The interview takes part of Unidos por la historia, a documentary series of 10 chapters that will review the last centuries of Latin America, since the cultures of the native towns to the present time.  “Since the times of the conquest, Latin America is connected by infinite bridges, large milestones and small histories.  The purpose of Unidos por la historia is to do visible these connectors in each one of the themes proposed”, explain the producers.  The series will be emitted toward all the continent during 2010, because of the Bicentenary of the countries of the region.  Produced by Contained Native, this documentary series will be rolled in Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Argentina, France, Spain and England.  The conduction is in charge of the historian and Argentine writer Felipe Pigna and of the historian, journalist and Mexican writer Pedro Angel Palou.