thomas ruff

interview

by ALEPH MOLINARI

German artist Thomas Ruff, a key figure of the Düsseldorf School, helped redefine photography as a form of contemporary art. He challenges the notion of photographic truth, revealing the constructed nature of images through large-scale formats in a culture saturated by retinal flashes.

ALEPH MOLINARI — You studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. How would you describe your experience there?

THOMAS RUFF — I came to Düsseldorf in 1977 and studied there until 1985. At that time, Düsseldorf was a city of artists because of the Kunstakademie — important artists like Gerhard Richter, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Klaus Rinke, and Günther Uecker were teaching there — as well as the active subculture music scene. Just around the corner of the Kunstakademie you found the Ratinger Straße, a street with a lot of pubs and the famous Ratinger Hof club where many punk bands originated and performed. Regarding…