Thomas Demand (b. 1964)

"Looking at any of Demand's photos is like looking at the physical representation of memory and its spatial dimensions. It is a metaphysical experience like looking at a De Chirico painting. But what are memories and dreams made of? In Demand's world - paper. They are light and thin and they can be destroyed by a simple noise, a wind blow. For Demand, looking at an image is not just a visual experience but a structural one, the same way a sculpture is in relation to the structure of a piece of stone, wood or clay. Like a sculptor, Demand looks for the soul inside the image. For the artist, it is a spatial journey to understand if space travels in time."
F. Bonami quoted in Thomas Demand, exh. cat., Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, Paris 2000-2001, p. 19.