Thomas Ruff: Editions 1988–2014

Alongside the large exhibition prints produced in limited numbers, Thomas Ruff has also made smaller-format photographic prints. Made through a range of reproductive techniques, these modest-format prints usually appear in editions of thirty or more, which the publisher describes as a way of making them affordable to a broader art audience. Thomas Ruff: Editions 1988–2014 takes that editioned output as its subject.

Prepared by Jörg Schellmann in close cooperation with the artist, the book is a catalogue raisonné devoted to the editions. It records the signed and numbered works Ruff has issued from 1988 to the period covered by this 2014 catalogue and orders them by year of production, not by the year the underlying image was made — a distinction that keeps the chronology of edition production in view.

Ruff’s wider practice provides context for the editions. In larger-than-life portraits, young adults return the camera’s gaze with intent; sterile building façades serve as commentary on the misery of urban sprawl; nudes taken from pornographic websites are rendered in pixels so that important details become almost indecipherable, underscoring the power of such images. The volume runs to 180 pages and 211 photographs, hardcover, at 220 by 287 millimetres.

Thomas Weski contributes the introduction; Hatje Cantz published the English edition in 2014. Its value to a collector is documentary. Here is a researched listing of Ruff’s signed and numbered editions, assembled with the artist’s cooperation, in which more than a quarter century of issuing work in editioned form can be followed as a sequence — useful for anyone wanting to place a particular print within that chronology.

Thomas Ruff‘s photographic series are compelling. In larger-than-life-sized portraits we encounter the in­tent gazes of young adults. Sterile building façades serve as a commentary on the misery of urban sprawl. Pixelated nudes from pornographic websites render important details almost indecipherable while un­derscoring the power of these images. In exhibitions the photographer shows large-scale prints, which are produced in a very limited number. However, he con­sistently produces small-format photographic prints using a range of reproductive techniques, which usu­ally have editions of thirty and more to make them affordable to a broader art audience. This catalogue raisonné of editions was prepared by Jörg Schellmann in close cooperation with Thomas Ruff (* 1958) and is based on the most up-to-date research. The works are organized chronologically, not according to the year the image was created but its year of production. The volume presents all signed and numbered editions by the artist from 1988 onwards. (German edition ISBN 978-3-7757-3858-3)

Edited by: Jörg Schellmann
Einleitung von: Prof. Thomas Weski
English
October 2014, 180 Pages , 211 Photos
hardcover
220mm x 287mm
ISBN:978-3-7757-3859-0

Publisher page editorial text:
| Thomas Ruff’s catalogue raisonné: a complete compendium of editions
Thomas Ruff‘s photographic series are compelling. In larger-than-life-sized portraits we encounter the in­tent gazes of young adults. Sterile building façades serve as a commentary on the misery of urban sprawl. Pixelated nudes from pornographic websites render important details almost indecipherable while un­derscoring the power of these images. In exhibitions the photographer shows large-scale prints, which are produced in a very limited number. However, he con­sistently produces small-format photographic prints using a range of reproductive techniques, which usu­ally have editions of thirty and more to make them affordable to a broader art audience. This catalogue raisonné of editions was prepared by Jörg Schellmann in close cooperation with Thomas Ruff (* 1958) and is based on the most up-to-date research. The works are organized chronologically, not according to the year the image was created but its year of production. The volume presents all signed and numbered editions by the artist from 1988 onwards. (German edition ISBN 978-3-7757-3858-3)

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