Andreas Gursky

In this monumental photograph, the flat, black curves of the Bahrain International Circuit raceway snake in exaggerated arcs and twists across a sandy desert. Shot from a vantage point high above the ground, the complex network of track resembles the gestural black strokes of an Abstract Expressionist canvas by Franz Kline. Indeed, this photograph, almost ten feet in height, dominates the wall in the manner of a painting.

After studying with the photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf, Gursky went on to create large-scale photographs of contemporary urban and rural sights across the globe, including international business headquarters, undulating crowds of young partiers, and vast landscapes of vivid color. Astounding in their intricacy, the plentiful details in his images ground the subjects in specific moments and places and at the same time highlight the pictures’ patterns and surfaces. Directional markings, lights, and corporate logos are visible across the Bahrain raceway, but there are no apparent spectators or maintenance crews.

Gursky uses digital manipulation to great effect. This picture has been made by splicing together multiple shots and eliminating specific details to create a multilayered yet seamless web. The artist has conjured a place that is at once hyperreal and implicitly artificial—a constructed reality in keeping with his contemporary subject.