Dimensions: image: 1600 x 1205 mm
Copyright: © DACS, 2014 | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: So, this is Thomas Ruff’s "Portrait 1986 (Stoya)". It's a large-scale photograph, and the subject's direct gaze is really intense. What can you tell me about it? Curator: Ruff's portraits, particularly within the context of the 1980s in Germany, challenge traditional portraiture's power dynamics. Consider the clinical detachment, the almost forensic quality. Does it remind you of other systems of control and documentation? Editor: I hadn't thought about it like that. It's like a mugshot, but… art? So, is he critiquing surveillance? Curator: Precisely. And what about the title? "Stoya," a common surname. It is a deconstruction of identity, a flattening of individuality under institutional power. Does it make you question the very notion of a "portrait"? Editor: Definitely. I see how the work really makes you think about who has the power to define someone's identity. Curator: Yes. Art becomes a mirror reflecting societal structures.
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Ruff believes that photography can only capture the surface of things, conveying what he describes as ‘the authenticity of a manipulated and prearranged reality’. In 1981, he began a series of colour portraits of his friends and fellow students at the Düsseldorf Academy. Each subject is framed like a passport photo against a plain background. The portraits resolutely refuse to provide any psychological insights into the sitters. Gallery label, May 2010
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