GLASGOW.- A new exhibition of works by one of the most original and innovative artists working today, Wolfgang Tillmans is now on display at
Glasgows Gallery of Modern Art.
The exhibition entitled Wolfgang Tillmans pictures from New World is a selection of photographs from the Turner Prize-winners recent series Neue Welt (New World). Following 10 years of abstract and conceptual work, the project marks Tillmans re-enchantment with the simple act of looking at the world as it is.
Will Cooper, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at Glasgow Museums said: A defining characteristic of Wolfgang Tillmans photographic work is the diversity of its subjects, styles and themes. Whether exploring conventional photographic modes such as street photography, portraiture, landscape and still life, or abandoning the camera altogether to produce abstract prints made by exposing different materials to light, Tillmans retains a sense of experimentation throughout his practice. This desire to push boundaries, to constantly question the photographic art form, has established Tillmans as one of the leading contemporary artists working today.
In these images, made over several years of local and international travel, the glass and steel of contemporary shopping malls are juxtaposed with the dust and colour of distant street markets. Skies of unblemished blue are countered by scrapyards and gutters. In one photo, fungus creeps up the side of a tree trunk, the organic mirror image of the ever-upward climb of urban environments captured here also in the form of a cluttered view that unfolds before the artist from the window of a Shanghai hotel.
Collapsing the known into the unknown, the exotic into the everyday, the old into the new, Tillmans Neue Welt observes multiple places from Papua New Guinea to Nottingham in a manner curious, compelling and highly original.
The works on display were acquired through Art Fund International, a scheme run by the Art Fund from 2007 to 2012, for Glasgow Museums collection.
Wolfgang Tillmans pictures from New World is open from 19th February 2016 until 7th August 2016
Wolfgang Tillmans Born in 1968 in Remscheid, Germany, Wolfgang Tillmans studied at Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design in Bournemouth, England from 1990 to 1992. In 2000, Tillmans was the first photographer and first non-British artist to receive the Turner Prize. In 2009, he received the Kulturpreis der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Photographie and was selected to serve as an Artist Trustee on the Board of Tate. He has been a member of the Akademie der Künste, Berlin since 2012, and was appointed a member of the Royal Academy of Arts, London in 2013.