October 22, 2026
Thomas Demand
String Theory
Matthew Marks Gallery
September 19 - November 7, 2026
Thomas Demand
Thomas Demand is best known for creating scenarios out of paper and cardboard that he then photographs. While these sets and stagings are sculptural, they are not the works of art: the models are never exhibited as he destroys them after making his pictures. Demand's subjects are often based on images culled from the media and depict everyday scenes or objects, as well as recognizable places with historical significance. These elaborate constructions are photographed from specific vantage points so as to replicate the original images as best as possible. His works examine ways to translate three dimensions into two. He is interested in creating illusions that allude to actual depth. The images often appear real, as they are to scale, but are also clearly fabricated. His labor intensive process at times seems over the top, but this has become his modus operandi. The works are invested in ongoing questions about "photography and representation" as he challenges the idea of photographic truth, as well as the notion of "the decisive moment."
Having encountered one of John Lautner's architectural models while in residence at the Getty Research Institute, Demand became interested in photographing maquettes by designers and architects. In 2011, he began his Model Series, using models by noted architects like John Lautner, Gio Ponti and Hans Hollein. As Lautner's models were quite fragile, the resulting images trace their decay, as well as the potential of these unrealized buildings. Demand later photographed models by the Japanese architectural firm SANAA, again focusing the distinctions between what was buildable and what were purely studies. The series has become an exploration of the relationship between photography and architecture, as well as what lies beyond the concept of the model. Demand's images collapse space and often turn the proposed buildings into abstractions.
On view at Matthew Marks Gallery are a selection of Demand's recent "model studies." Traveling to European museums where 18th and 19th century models were housed — the Theatermuseum Vienna, the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco, and the German Theater Museum in Munich — Demand set up shop in situ making photographs of these historic objects. Reggia d'Apollo XIII (all works 2026) is a photograph of a 1781 production design by Lorenzo Sacchetti. Using a periscope camera and special lens, Demand focuses his attention on architectural details. He frames an interior section of the original cardboard model to look closely at its rough-edged arches receding backwards into the space of the multi-leveled structure. The entire image is imbued with amber and golden hues. The obvious collapsing and flattening of space comes from the periscoping lens. In Reggia d'Apollo XI, Demand captures a lone figure that appears to be climbing up the side of the set, an ambiguous facade of interlocking paper and cardboard shapes. Guillaume Tell XXI depicts a close cropped fragment of a landscape from a model of Gioachino Rossini's last opera. The photograph layers mountains and trees, again collapsing the space to flatten the image. Other stage sets Demand photographed include Richard Wagner's Parsifal and Tannhauser, Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele, and William Shakespeare's Antonius & Cleopatra.
Contrasting the unknown size of the original models with his surprisingly large photographs creates disorientation through strange scale shifts. It is clear we are looking at something small, that represents something much larger. The photographs become a kind of middle-ground. There is an uncanny similarity between Demand's own constructions and his photographs of these maquettes. He continues to condense space and focus on architectural details, but these images feel more flat and abstract. Both ask viewers to use their imagination to expand the scene and in the case of the opera and ballet models, to imagine the performances that would occupy the fully realized spaces.
The exhibition juxtaposes Demand's photographs of these historic models with recent images of his own constructions. These new works are printed on copper which gives them a shimmering aura. Demand speaks to the historical use of copper noting that it was used in 16th century paintings as a replacement for wood which could warp. He also notes that copperplate engraving was one of the first techniques for mechanically reproducing images, as well as the ground for much early photography. His images on copper feature books, reeds, stars, leaves and light coming through a window, all iconic Demand subjects precisely crafted from his usual materials. Yet, they are dramatically different because of the copper substrate. The images on copper reflect more light than traditional C-prints and pigment prints. Seen in conjunction with the stage set photographs, it appears as though Demand is now harnessing the language of performance and theatrical illusion, in addition to the properties inherent in photography.
String Theory
Matthew Marks Gallery
September 19 - November 7, 2026
Thomas Demand
Thomas Demand is best known for creating scenarios out of paper and cardboard that he then photographs. While these sets and stagings are sculptural, they are not the works of art: the models are never exhibited as he destroys them after making his pictures. Demand's subjects are often based on images culled from the media and depict everyday scenes or objects, as well as recognizable places with historical significance. These elaborate constructions are photographed from specific vantage points so as to replicate the original images as best as possible. His works examine ways to translate three dimensions into two. He is interested in creating illusions that allude to actual depth. The images often appear real, as they are to scale, but are also clearly fabricated. His labor intensive process at times seems over the top, but this has become his modus operandi. The works are invested in ongoing questions about "photography and representation" as he challenges the idea of photographic truth, as well as the notion of "the decisive moment."
Having encountered one of John Lautner's architectural models while in residence at the Getty Research Institute, Demand became interested in photographing maquettes by designers and architects. In 2011, he began his Model Series, using models by noted architects like John Lautner, Gio Ponti and Hans Hollein. As Lautner's models were quite fragile, the resulting images trace their decay, as well as the potential of these unrealized buildings. Demand later photographed models by the Japanese architectural firm SANAA, again focusing the distinctions between what was buildable and what were purely studies. The series has become an exploration of the relationship between photography and architecture, as well as what lies beyond the concept of the model. Demand's images collapse space and often turn the proposed buildings into abstractions.
On view at Matthew Marks Gallery are a selection of Demand's recent "model studies." Traveling to European museums where 18th and 19th century models were housed — the Theatermuseum Vienna, the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco, and the German Theater Museum in Munich — Demand set up shop in situ making photographs of these historic objects. Reggia d'Apollo XIII (all works 2026) is a photograph of a 1781 production design by Lorenzo Sacchetti. Using a periscope camera and special lens, Demand focuses his attention on architectural details. He frames an interior section of the original cardboard model to look closely at its rough-edged arches receding backwards into the space of the multi-leveled structure. The entire image is imbued with amber and golden hues. The obvious collapsing and flattening of space comes from the periscoping lens. In Reggia d'Apollo XI, Demand captures a lone figure that appears to be climbing up the side of the set, an ambiguous facade of interlocking paper and cardboard shapes. Guillaume Tell XXI depicts a close cropped fragment of a landscape from a model of Gioachino Rossini's last opera. The photograph layers mountains and trees, again collapsing the space to flatten the image. Other stage sets Demand photographed include Richard Wagner's Parsifal and Tannhauser, Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele, and William Shakespeare's Antonius & Cleopatra.
Contrasting the unknown size of the original models with his surprisingly large photographs creates disorientation through strange scale shifts. It is clear we are looking at something small, that represents something much larger. The photographs become a kind of middle-ground. There is an uncanny similarity between Demand's own constructions and his photographs of these maquettes. He continues to condense space and focus on architectural details, but these images feel more flat and abstract. Both ask viewers to use their imagination to expand the scene and in the case of the opera and ballet models, to imagine the performances that would occupy the fully realized spaces.
The exhibition juxtaposes Demand's photographs of these historic models with recent images of his own constructions. These new works are printed on copper which gives them a shimmering aura. Demand speaks to the historical use of copper noting that it was used in 16th century paintings as a replacement for wood which could warp. He also notes that copperplate engraving was one of the first techniques for mechanically reproducing images, as well as the ground for much early photography. His images on copper feature books, reeds, stars, leaves and light coming through a window, all iconic Demand subjects precisely crafted from his usual materials. Yet, they are dramatically different because of the copper substrate. The images on copper reflect more light than traditional C-prints and pigment prints. Seen in conjunction with the stage set photographs, it appears as though Demand is now harnessing the language of performance and theatrical illusion, in addition to the properties inherent in photography.