Hayward Gallery reopening after two years with Andreas Gursky show
The Brutalist building, at London’s South Bank, first opened in 1968.
Photographs from North Korea are going on display at the new-look Hayward Gallery.
The refurbished gallery is holding the first major UK retrospective of the work of acclaimed German photographer Andreas Gursky.
New works include Pyongyang VI (2007/2017) and Pyongyang VII (2007/2017), which document North Korea’s Mass Games, a choreographed group display of dance and acrobatics.
New pyramid roof lights now allow natural light into the spaces below, in the Brutalist building, at London’s South Bank, which opened in 1968.
Gursky is known for his large-scale works but some new pieces experiment with camera phone technology and measure less than a metre.
The contemporary art gallery said the images, ranging from a stock exchange to an Amazon distribution centre and rubbish-strewn verge of a Spanish motorway, “provide a sweeping visual record of our age”.
Hayward Gallery director Ralph Rugoff said: “A true innovator engaged in thinking about and picturing the times in which we live in, Gursky is the perfect artist for launching the 50th anniversary year of the Hayward.”
Andreas Gursky opens on Thursday and runs until April 22.
