LONDON.- Considered one of the most important photographers of his generation, Juergen Teller is one of a few artists who has been able to operate successfully both in the art world and the world of commercial photography. This exhibition provides a seamless journey through his landmark fashion and commercial photography from the 90s, presenting classic images of celebrities such as Lily Cole, Kurt Cobain and Vivienne Westwood, as well as more recent landscapes and family portraits.

Teller entered the London photography scene through the music industry taking photographs for record covers, it was Teller’s photograph of Sinéad O’Connor for her single Nothing Compares 2 You that marked an important moment in his career. Teller’s photographs first appeared in fashion magazines in the late 80s, and included portraits of Kate Moss when she was just fifteen years old. Teller’s images could be described as the antithesis of conventional fashion photography seen perhaps most markedly in his campaigns for Marc Jacobs.

Picture and Words introduces a series from his controversial weekly column in the magazine of Die Zeit which often provoked outcry amongst readers, and the exhibition will feature many of the letters of complaint that the magazine received. Irene im Wald and Keys to the House are Teller’s most recent bodies of work, revealing the photographer’s more personal world in his hometown in Germany and family home in Suffolk.

Teller’s provocative interventions in celebrity portraiture subvert the conventional relationship of the artist and model. Whatever the setting, all his subjects collaborate in a way that allows for the most surprising poses and emotional intensity. Driven by a desire to tell a story in every picture he takes, Teller has shaped his own distinct and instantly recognisable style which combines humour, self-mockery and an emotional honesty.

A selection of Teller's books and tear sheets from his editorial and advertising work also are on view in the ICA's Fox Reading Room.

Lehmann Maupin Gallery presented Juergen Teller's first solo show in the United States in 2000. Since then, Teller has been the subject of five additional solo shows at the gallery, including exhibitions for notable series such as Nürnberg (2006) and Paradis (2009), for which Teller was granted after hours access to the Musée du Louvre, Paris. Teller’s most recent exhibition at Lehmann Maupin, which opened in February 2012, included controversial photographs of Kristen McMenamy, shot in the home of Carlo Mollino, and seductive portraits of Vivienne Westwood, juxtaposed with intimate portraits of his family and close friends.

Juergen Teller was born in 1964 in Erlangen, Germany, and studied at the Bayerische Staatslehranstalt für Photographie in Munich, before moving to London in 1986. Recent solo exhibitions include Touch Me, at Le Consortium, Dijon (2010) and Daelim Museum, Korea (2011); Man with Banana, Dallas Contemporary, Texas, curated by Peter Doroshenko (2011); and Irene Im Wald, The Journal Gallery, Brooklyn (2012), among others. In 2012, renowned curator Francesco Bonami organized Juergen Teller’s first solo exhibition in Italy. Installed in the majestic reserve apartments of the Palazzo Reale, The Girl With the Broken Nose comprised nine photographs of monumental proportion. Each measuring six feet by ten feet, the works on view were the artist's largest to date.

Teller was the recipient of the 1993 Photography Prize at Festival de la Mode, Monaco, and the 2003 recipient of the Citibank Photography Prize in association with the Photographer’s Gallery, London. In 2007, Teller represented the Ukraine as one of five artists in the 52nd Venice Biennale.

Teller’s work is included in numerous collections around the world, including the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris; International Center for Photography, New York; Pinchuk Art Centre, Kiev; and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, among many others.