Thomas Ruff: Nudes and ma.r.s, Gagosian Gallery - review

Thomas Ruff’s time at the influential Dusseldorf School of photography saw him create repetitive black-and-white studies of architecture. But soon he entered the realm of colour, and that remains central to the diverse works in this collection. It also exposes the experimental digital manipulation which lets viewers swing between different visual realities and interpretations of the same image, from massively enlarged internet porno shots to equally up-scaled Nasa scenes from the surface of Mars.

Ruff pushes the enlargements to extremes and challenges content. Cherry blossoms, lakes and mountains resemble pointilliste paintings but viewed close they emerge as delicate abstracts constructed from pixellated blocks of soft colour. The surprise of Nudes enlarged to the limit are presented as vast, blurry portraits, the erotic impact of their explicit poses diminished by the new, incongruously pastel tones.

With ma.r.s., Ruff experiments with the planet’s sculpted landscapes; circular domes, pock-marks and erotic crevices recreated as close-to, canvas-like scenes in saturated colours, glowing 3-D effects and painterly beauty. ma.r.s. 02 is the epitome, its vast yellow background loaded with black splats suggesting a painter’s hand.

This magical collection stamps Ruff with a new originality which fully separates him from the scientific cool of ex-Dusseldorfers like Thomas Struth.

Until April 21 (020 7841 9960, gagosian.com)