Wolfgang Tillmans, 'Onion' (2010) (detail). Framed c-type print. Courtesy of the artist and Maureen Paley, London.
Featuring an important group of works acquired by the Arts Council Collection alongside a number of new works selected by the artist, this exhibition covers the characteristic range and diversity of imagery in Tillmans’ practice.
Ranging from intimate portraits, dense with emotional intensity, to vast monochromes, baring the traces of the physical process involved, Tillmans is known for both the range of subject and the varying scale of his photographs. Sometimes highly choreographed and other times completely spontaneous, he demonstrates a simultaneous understanding of the emotional relationship between the photographer and his subject and the objectivity of the photographic process.
“I love the piece of paper itself, this lush, crisp thing. A piece of photographic paper has its own elegance, how it bows when you have it hanging in one hand or in two and manipulate it, expose it to light – I guess it is quite a gestural thing.”
Wolfgang Tillmans, 'A New Installation, with Works from the Arts Council Collection', installation view, The Common Guild, 2012. Photo: Ruth Clark.
Tillmans is also known, perhaps unusually for a photographer, for the diversity in the presentation of his work – from his signature bulldog clips, map pins and sticky tape mounts to Plexiglass hoods and bespoke vitrines. Through this range of scale and format, object, whilst reminding the viewer of the temporality, and fragility, of the image that they see.
Frequently referencing other genres, such as painting and sculpture, in both the content and the presentation of his work, Tillmans also explores the context of the photographic image, reminding the viewer of both its ubiquity and is uniqueness.
Exhibition Details
This exhibition was presented as part of Glasgow International 2012.
