Thomas Demand Fuses Opera and Paper Sculptures in MAK Photography Show

The MAK in Vienna presents THOMAS DEMAND: Rooms That Dream of Yesterday, an exhibition where Berlin-based artist Thomas Demand merges theater and opera with his photographic practice. Starting from historical set designs—from Baroque illusionism to turn-of-the-century stage atmospheres—Demand created a new work cycle transposing performing arts visuals into photography. The works explore how photography constructs reality, using paper and cardboard stage sets photographed and processed into new optical dimensions, inviting viewers into a cognitive space rather than mere visual depiction. Demand is known for his meticulous paper sculptures and photographs that blur reality and artifice.