Wolfgang Tillmans

Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Buchhandlung Walther König, Ed., Wolfgang Tillmans: Soldiers: The Nineties, Köln 1999, illustrated in colour (cover)

Exh. Cat., London, Tate Britain, Wolfgang Tillmans: If One Thing Matters, Everything Matters, 2003, p. 107, no. 1995-114, illustrated in colour (ed. no. unknown)

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate. Condition: This work is in very good conddition. The sheet is held between Perspex and the backing sheet.
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One of the most innovative and influential photographers working today, Wolfgang Tillmans is known for his unapologetic snapshots of the quotidian. Having risen to prominence in the late 1980s with his photographs of the emerging rave subculture in his native Germany, Tillmans has developed a highly sophisticated artistic lexicon that approaches questions of gender, politics and intimacy in a truly unique fashion. Speaking in 2003, Tillmans described 5 categories for his work from 1994 onwards:  “’friends’; ‘sittings’; ‘crowds/strangers’; ‘still life’, ‘Struktur’. Soldier Gangway III depicts a solitary stranger. The soft outline of the soldier contrasts with the ominous rigidity of the military apparatus that surround him; we face the threat alongside him. In contrast, Ten Eight is a tender portrait. The sepia tones lend a dated elegance to the composition, but this is offset by the trainers and backpack in the foreground. The anticipation here is of enjoyment rather than fear, the scene is alluring, like the azure pond of Blautopf I. All three of these works, two strangers and a still life, typify Tillmans’ work from the 1990s and early 2000s. He is a consummate hoarder of images, a cataloguer of contemporary life. In his words: “I never underestimate the importance of the fleeting moment; potentially a good thing can happen at any time and only reveal its full relevance over the course of time” (Wolfgang Tillmans in conversation with Mary Horlock in: Exh. Cat. London, Tate Modern, Wolfgang Tillmans: if one thing matters everything matters, 2003, p. 305).