Thomas Demand | Solo-exhibition | Esther Schipper | 14.03-17.04.2025

Thomas Demand has already had five solo exhibitions at the Esther Schipper Gallery. On display is a series of eleven hand-printed lithographs produced by the legendary print publisher Gemini G.E.L. and installed on a new wallpaper specially designed for this presentation.

The wallpaper shows a pattern of blue and red circles and is based on the old carpeting in the International Congress Center Berlin (ICC), which was inaugurated in 1979 in what was then West Berlin. The ICC was the most expensive building in the city at the time and was listed as a historical monument in 2019, but has been largely abandoned in recent years.

The pattern, interpreted by Demand in a color version, provides a perfect backdrop for the artist’s lithographs, which focus on architectural structures of historical and cultural significance. Each individual lithograph reflects the complex history of the site depicted and is characterized by exquisite craftsmanship. The series includes notable works such as Concattedrale Gran Madre di Dio, which depicts the cathedral in Taranto, Italy, designed by Gio Ponti in 1970.

Demand emphasizes the openwork walls of the cathedral, reminiscent of a silhouette, and its role as a refuge for immigrants. Another work, Notre-Dame de Reims, reflects on the tragic bombing of Reims Cathedral during the First World War and its subsequent reconstruction, symbolizing the fragile constructions of national identity. Shepherd Ivory Franz Hall II pays homage to the rational, modular efficiency of the UCLA building designed by Paul Revere Williams, the first black member of the American Institute of Architects. Part of the colonnades of Munich’s imposing Haus der Kunst, built by the Nazis as a neoclassical temple to German art, stands as an awkward relic of the country’s history.

The prints were produced by Los Angeles-based specialty print publisher Gemini G.E.L.. With their subtle coloration and embossed details, the prints embody important aspects of Thomas Demand’s process: the transformation of a photographic image into a model made of colored paper or cardboard, which in turn is represented as a photograph. is represented as a photograph.

This series of lithographs continues the process by transforming Demand’s image into a print that captures the fine details and textures. The eleven lithographs were printed by hand using 90 photolithographic plates and 133 colors, with delicate embossing added to the skies, windows, shadows and alcoves to enhance their depth and texture. This cycle of deconstruction, construction and reconstruction is evident in the final works, which feature both subtle and bold color blends that highlight the architectural forms, shapes and shadows.

The series of works has its roots in the covers that Demand designed for the Italian architecture magazine DOMUS when the renowned architect David Chipperfield was guest editor of the magazine in 2020. “The front of a magazine is itself a kind of façade,” the artist remarked at the time.

The writer and art critic Jonathan Griffin has written a text for each lithograph that provides the historical context of the structure depicted and talks about the significance of the motif for Demand.

About Thomas Demand
Thomas Demand was born in Munich, Germany, in 1964. He studied at the art academies in Munich and Düsseldorf. He received an MFA from Goldsmiths, University of London. Since 2011 he has been working as a professor at the HFBK, the University of Fine Arts Hamburg. The artist lives and works in Berlin and Los Angeles.

Thomas Demand’s The Triple Folly, a sculptural pavilion designed by the artist in collaboration with Caruso St John Architects, was inaugurated in September 2022 at the headquarters of the Danish textile manufacturer Kvadrat in Ebeltoft, Denmark.

Thomas Demand’s work has been shown at numerous exhibitions. Selected solo exhibitions and special projects include: The Stutter of History, Taipei Fine Arts Museum (2025); The Stutter of History, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (2024); The Stutter of History, The Israel Museum (2023); Forms and Patterns of Azzedine Alaïa, Azzedine Alaïa Foundation, Paris (2023); The Stutter of History, Jeu de Paume, Paris (2023); HOUSE OF CARD, MOCA, Toronto (2022); The Stutter of History, UCCA Edge, Shanghai (2022); Mundo de Papel, Centro Botín, Santander (2021); Mirror Without Memory, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow (2021); HOUSE OF CARD, M – Museum, Leuven (2020-21); The Boat is Leaking. The Captain Lied, Fondazione Prada, Ca’ Corner della Regina, Venice (2017); Thomas Demand, Nouveau Musée National de Monaco, Villa Sauber – Project Space, Monaco (2016); FOCUS: Thomas Demand, The Modern, Fort Worth (2016); Daily Show, The Common Guild, Glasgow (2015); Model Studies, Siza Pavilion, Raketenstation Hombroich, Neuss (2015); Pacific Sun, LACMA Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles (2015); Model Studies, Graham Foundation, Chicago (2013); Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (2012) (traveled to National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne); The Dailies, Kaldor Public Art Projects #25, Sydney (2012); National Gallery, Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2010); Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin (2009); Presidency. Embassy, MUMOK, Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna (2009), and Thomas Demand, The Museum of Modern Art, New York (2005).

Demand took part in the 50th Venice Biennale (2003) and represented Germany at the 26th São Paulo Biennale (2004). He also represented Germany at the 26th São Paulo Biennial. In 2011 Demand curated the critically acclaimed exhibition La Carte d’après Nature at the Nouveau Musée National in Monaco and in 2016 L’image volée at the Fondazione Prada in Milan.

His works are represented in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, the Museum Folkwang, Essen, the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, the Tate Modern, London, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia.

Exhibition dates: Friday, 14. March – Thursday, 17. April 2025.