MALAGA.- The Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga presents ma.r.s., by Thomas Ruff, a leading name in photography and contemporary art and one of the most prominent members of the German School since the 1980s. The exhibition, curated by Fernando Francés, features a range of images of the universe that depict apparently distant places but ones within reach of the spectator, which is the conceptual thread of the exhibition. The origins of the images are of secondary importance due to the way that Ruff manipulates them throughout the creative process. The post-production is therefore the crucial element in his working method, bringing about unexpected results and offering a startling vision of the landscapes of Mars.

“Photography can only reproduce the surface of things”. This phrase by Thomas Ruff (born Zell am Harmersbach, 1958) sums up his approach when starting work on the negative of a photographic image. His aim is to go beyond the instant captured, entering into a parallel universe in search of a meaning that differs from the conventional one. Ruff multiplies the viewer’s visual experiences, extending the framework of reference beyond the surface of the photograph and beyond the initial level or first impression created by his images.

The exhibition’s title, ma.r.s., is an acronym of Mars Reconnaissance Survey. On display are 31 photographs that reveal the techniques and manipulations that Ruff has applied to them. The images fall into three series: ma.r.s. (2010-2011), a selection of works from the larger series jpeg (2004-2010), and others from Sterne (1992). The first focuses on Mars, the second on the manipulation of pixilated images of rockets, and the third on stars. The artist has explained the connections between the three series: “The connection between the 3 parts of the exhibition is as follows: the Martian landscape could not be photographed without a rocket taking the satellite up into orbit, and the stars surround Mars”.

For the series ma.r.s. (2010-2011) Ruff transformed images initially captured by satellite from a straight angle in order to make the viewpoint correspond to the one that would be obtained from an aeroplane flying over the landscape in question. This visual game results in a sensation that we are seeing Mars from close up. In addition, the artist applies colours to the images, emphasising the characteristics of the landscapes without altering their nature. In the series jpeg (2004-2010) he selected images of rockets taken in 2007 that he also manipulated by computer-generated means. Finally Sterne [stars] depicts images of the sky taken from the La Silla Space Observatory in Chile.

For Fernando Francés, Director of the CAC Málaga: “Thomas Ruff’s lens has brought about a new way of understanding the medium of photography. The least important aspect is the source of the images and how, why or where they were obtained. He experiments with them, manipulates them and applies techniques that emphasise their characteristics in order to obtain startling results. As Ruff himself has said on more than one occasion: “My only intention is to evaluate the images in order to know how much truth there is within them.”

This is not the first project by Ruff to focus on the universe but it is the first one in which he completes the sequence of photographs in such a perfect and coherent manner, expressed as a beginning (the rockets), a narrative core (the nuances, colours and textures of Mars), and an end (the stars revolving around the universe). Having been subjected to Ruff’s creative process these images change, taking on a disquieting aspect that cannot fail to impress the viewer.

A leading member of the Düsseldorf Fine Arts Academy, where he was taught by Bernd and Hilla Becher, Ruff’s career is associated with the generation of German photographers that promoted the new trend within this medium, including Candida Höffer, Thomas Struth, Axel Hütte and Andreas Gursky. Contemporary art today cannot be conceived without the presence of photography and the importance of these artists lay in the fact that they raised its status to that of an artistic medium so that it is now exhibited in international galleries and museums.

At the outset of his career Ruff focused extensively on photography but departed from conventional approaches and a documentary interest. Rather, he investigated the potential of images and the application of new technologies and its resources. His work falls within the field of the mechanical production of images and the way in which the technique can influence what is ultimately expressed in the photograph. Telescopic visions of the night sky printed on negatives, provocative nudes taken from pornographic websites, colourful manipulations of Manga comics and his jpeg series reveal Thomas Ruff’s ongoing intention to reinvent pre-existing images.