Andreas Gursky

White Cube, London
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in 2008

Kiev, Pinchuk Art Centre, Rhine on the Dnipro, Julia Stoschek Collection/Andreas Gursky, 2008, n.p., illustrated in colour

Exhibition Catalogue, Basel, Kunstmuseum, Andreas Gursky, 2007-08, p. 9, illustration of another example in colour

 

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the blues are slightly cooler in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Throughout his career, Andreas Gursky has specialised in photographing the various structures and containers which we as human beings have fashioned for ourselves to play out our existence. In Dubai World II, from 2007, this fundamental thematic reaches its zenith, in an image which witnesses the perfect synergy of subject matter and formal style, the hallmark of Gursky's best works. A man-made archipelago of three hundred islands constructed in the shape of the world map four kilometres off the cost of Dubai, 'The World' ranks among the most ambitious engineering projects of our time. As such, it is a testament to the brimming ambition and nature-defying will of the human race to improve our lot on this planet. Constructed from sand dredged from the sea, it is also testament to the ambition of our time to own and to consume, as each island is for sale with prices ranging from $15m to $250m. Combining the themes seen hitherto in masterpieces such as Hong Kong, Shanghai Bank, 1994 and 99 Cent, 1999, Dubai World II shows that the potency of Gursky's photographic punch remains undiminished.

 

Photographing the site in 2007, before construction had begun on the myriad hotels and resorts planned for the islands, Gursky's lens captures an idyllic image of pristine white sand beaches surrounded by turquoise and azure crystal waters. Using a helicopter to look down on the islands from above, his camera looks away from the mainland and its burgeoning skyline of seven-star-luxury hotels towards an uninterrupted horizon where sea melts into sky. This is an image propagated by tourist brochures, of holiday getaways like the Maldives, which have become a stereotypical idyll of peace and tranquillity. These are the projected desires of our generation, as dictated not by us but by the marketing agencies behind the glossy images, which tap into our common psyche. Here Gursky's image inevitably plays on this cultural stereotype, but as we scrutinise his image more closely we notice that the islands are more lunar than they are oceanic, more cement-grey than coral-white. Gursky's wide format camera captures in remarkable detail the surface quality of the islands, with their barren wind-swept ridges of sand, unprotected from the scorching heat of the Gulf. Unlike his contemporaneous images of the naturally verdant, rocky islands of Khao Phing Kan in Thailand, entitled James Bond Island I-III, there is no sign of life here. On the horizon, the familiar image of primitive sailing boats is cleverly supplanted by the massive freight ships that inhabit these waters and that are needed to bring the thousands of tons of building materials to this extraordinary construction site. After the initial pull of this earthly paradise, Gursky leaves us in no doubt that this idyll is a thoroughly manmade conceit and even leaves us questioning its ambition.

 

In a broad range of subjects from hotel lobbies, trading floors, dance halls, factories and mass sporting events, Gursky seeks out the structures and events that define us as human beings and shape our epoch. Like the great history painters of the Nineteenth Century, he is a commentator of our times, presenting his monumental images for us to stand in front of and consider, often forcing a critical reappraisal of quotidian scenes which we habitually take for granted. Using the lessons learnt from painting and the German Romantic tradition in particular, he invests his images with grandeur hard to instil into the photographic image, by underpinning the image with a tight compositional structure. The vertical format leads us far into the distance and like the iconic Los Angeles, 1999, Gursky here adopts the high vantage point that looks down on earth from a god-like perspective. This takes on an added irony in the Dubai World photographs, because we are not just looking down on earth but looking down on a microcosm of the world, where the planet is reduced to a ten kilometre archipelago. Unlike the earlier image of L.A., in Dubai World II the buzz of the metropolis and the energy of human life are replaced by a serene beauty. Like Caspar David Friedrich's The Wanderer above a Sea of Fog, 1818, we stand in the position of Friedrich's hero looking down on the natural beauty of the world below us. Only in Gursky's image, it is not the natural world at which we marvel, but at the wonder of humankind's endeavour to usurp Mother Nature and construct our own beauty – indeed our own World – in the mirror of hers. By subtle enhancements of his image, Gursky confronts industrial might with natural beauty in a photograph whose message stays a long time in our consciousness.