Andreas Gursky’s six-part series Ocean I−VI (2009−10), of which LACMA owns four including Ocean I, was conceived during a long-distance flight from Dubai to Melbourne, as he watched the inflight system’s on-board map trace their journey across the Indian Ocean. The system recalibrated as they headed west, mapping the coastlines and then filling in the negative space as black ocean, spurring his imagination. Working with high-definition satellite photographs, augmented with online picture sources, Gursky created his own interpretations of sea and land in these dramatic, oversized photographs. They are not documentary images of specific bodies of water but expressive interpretations of the vastness of the ocean.
Interested in sweeping perspectives related to globalization, Gursky’s Oceans are a departure from his engagement with man-made spaces such as retail stores, offices, and stock exchanges. His use of color, digital manipulation, and montage set him apart from his instructors Bernd and Hilla Becher of the Düsseldorf School of Photography.
Rebecca Morse, Curator, Wallis Annenberg Photography Department
