Thomas Demand’s presidential bid at Sprüth Magers

With the recent US elections still ringing in our consciousness, Thomas Demand has chosen, with eerie prescience, the topic of the American presidency for his new exhibition which opens today at London's Sprüth Magers gallery.
Titled Presidency, this is the German photographer's first showing in the UK since his 2006 Serpentine outing. This time round, the visual totem is the fabled Oval Office and its pivotal role in 21st century global politics.
Well aware that this is probably one of the most famous rooms in the world, and also one that most of us will never actually step foot into, Demand does what he does best, which is to create, and then photograph, a hyper-realistic set model from paper, cardboard and, strangely enough, confetti. At first glance, the model is a perfect recreation but there are carefully constructed flaws, such as a skewed perspective, that take a while to emerge.
The resulting quintet of photographs is a sly observation of power especially since it's set against a background where it's difficult to decide where statecraft ends and stagecraft begins.
The impermanence too of the charade is driven home by the knowledge that once the shoot is over, Demand destroys his models. In the context of the American presidency, this destruction is a deliberate move to undermine what Demand explains as our naive faith in the 'permanence and unshakeability of American, or indeed any, political authority.'
ADDRESS
Sprüth Magers
7A Grafton Street
London W1S 4EJ
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture Editor at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018) and Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020).
-
Vincent Van Duysen’s furniture for Giustini Stagetti is inspired by sculpture and Rationalism
‘I.R.O. – Italian Rational Objects’, an exhibition and furniture collection, is the first collaboration between Vincent Van Duysen and Rome design gallery Giustini Stagetti
By Rosa Bertoli Published
-
Aymer Maria jewellery gives historical references a modern spin
Ruth Aymer, founder of Aymer Maria, takes us behind her architecturally inspired jewellery designs
By Mazzi Odu Published
-
Lawrence Lek’s depressed AI cars in Berlin invite compassion for the abandoned machine
Lawrence Lek’s installation ‘NOX’, created with LAS Art Foundation, broaches an AI future, in Berlin’s abandoned Kranzler Eck shopping centre
By Emily Steer Published