Background
Wolfgang Tillmans was born on August 16, 1968 in Remscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
2015
Wolfgang Tillmans, receiving Hasselblad Award in 2015.
2017
Wolfgang Tillmans, photographed at Tate Modern in February, 2017.
Poole, Dorset, United Kingdom
During the period from 1990 till 1992, he studied at Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design (present-day Arts University Bournemouth) in England.
Lerchenfeld 2, 22081 Hamburg, Germany
During the period from 1998 till 1999, Wolfgang held the post of a visiting professor at the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg.
Dürerstraße 10, 60596 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
In 2003, he was appointed a professor of Interdisciplinary Art at the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main, a post he held till 2006.
Bankside London, SE1 United Kingdom
Between 2009 and 2014, Tillmans served as an artist trustee of the Tate Board.
Tillmans in the 1990's.
Wolfgang Tillmans was born on August 16, 1968 in Remscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
In his early years, at the age of 14 to 16, Wolfgang attended different museums in Düsseldorf and Cologne, where he learned about the photo-based art of Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke, Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol, the artists, which are considered to be his earliest influences.
During the period from 1990 till 1992, he studied at Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design (present-day Arts University Bournemouth) in England.
During the period from 1987 to 1990, Wolfgang Tillmans lived in Hamburg, where he held his first solo show in 1988. In 1992, after his studies at Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design (present-day Arts University Bournemouth), the photographer left for London and in 1994, Wolfgang settled down in New York City for one year. It was there, that Tillmans got acquainted with Jochen Klein, a painter, who would later become his life partner.
During his time in New York City, he began to show more frequently, developing an exhibition style, that consisted of nonhierarchical arrangements of unframed photographs, tacked onto the gallery’s walls. The personal, celebratory nature of his photography took a dark turn in 1997, when his partner, Jochen Klein, died of AIDS.
After the death of his life partner, Tillmans began his career, covering gay pride events for magazines, such as "i-D", "Interview" and "Spex". Later, his casual, family-photo style shots of important gay figures in the arts world would appear on their covers.
In 1997, Tillmans was appointed the coeditor of "Spex" magazine. The following years, he implemented a wide range of projects, including the labor-intensive "Concord Grid". The presentation followed airplane flights at Heathrow Airport from various locations around the city. Also, his 1998 collection, "Total Solar Eclipse Grid", made up of 21 photographs, similarly documents a solar eclipse. Tillmans won the Turner Prize for the installation.
During the period from 1998 till 1999, Wolfgang held the post of a visiting professor at the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg. In 2003, he was appointed a professor of Interdisciplinary Art at the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main, a post he held till 2006.
In the 2000's, Wolfgang turned toward Abstract expression, using photographs themselves to create sculptures or by exploiting mistakes during the development process. This began with a presentation in an issue of "Parket" in 1998, in which the artist displayed years worth of damaged negatives. This tied back to an earlier interest in photocopied creations, making up the heart of his debut exhibit in 1983, "Approach". This thread continues to run through his work even today in works, such as his film project "Kopierer", a ten-minute film, showing a laser copier printing documents.
Between 2009 and 2014, Tillmans served as an artist trustee of the Tate Board. In 2017, he was elected to the Council of the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA).
Moreover, Wolfgang collaborated on some music projects. For example, in 2011, he worked with The Opiates, offering a range of photographs to accompany their "Hollywood under the knife" album and "Rainy Days and Remixes EP". Being a fan of the 1980's experimental synthpop group Colourbox, Tillmans curated an exhibition, dedicated to the group, "Music of the Band", at his Between Bridges gallery in 2014, and also selected the track list and provided original artwork for a tie-in compilation of the same name. In 2016, Tillmans' track "Device Control" was included on American singer and rapper Frank Ocean's video album "Endless".
Also, the photographer held many solo exhibitions in different museums, including Kunsthalle Zürich (1995), Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg in Wolfsburg, Germany (1996), Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid (1998), Museum Ludwig in Cologne (2001), Castello di Rivoli in Italy (2002), Palais de Tokyo in Paris (2002), the Tate in London (2003 and 2008), Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago (2006), Hamburger Bahnhof Museum für Gegenwart in Berlin (2008) and others.
Currently, Wolfgang Tillmans divides his time between Berlin and London.
Quotations:
"I want the pictures to be working in both directions. I accept that they speak about me, and yet at the same time, I want and expect them to function in terms of the viewer and their experience."
"My work is aimed at creating a world in which I wish to live. Consequently, it is about creating ideals with the aid of realistic techniques. My most fundamental motivation is a desire for unity, fusion and sense of community."
"The true authenticity of photographs for me is that they usually manipulate and lie about what is in front of the camera, but never lie about the intentions behind the camera."
"Always take yourself seriously... it's not the same as being pompous, or overly self-assured, but it is important to understand that the small little ideas that creep up in your mind, often contain the germ of a much larger project. All great art wasn't born as great art. It first needed to be recognized by the artist him/herself. Through his or her belief in it, it became true."
"What I'm interested in is happiness with a full awareness of the tragedy of life, the potential tragedy that lurks around every corner and the tragedy that actually is life."
"For me, a good portrait shows the fragility and humility of the person, and at the same time a strength, a resting in themselves."
"I am interested not in individual readings, but in constructing networks of images and meanings capable of reflecting the complexity of the subject."
"I see my practice as picture making. Whatever is available, I use."
Quotes from others about the person
"Wolfgang Tillmans moves freely between images of the club scene in Berlin, political manifestations and skyscrapers in Hong Kong; all with the same direct tonality. At the same time, all of his pictures explore photography itself — as a medium, but also as a material, convention and process." — Jo Widoff
"Wolfgang Tillmans is one of today’s most prominent artists. Despite its visual complexity, his pictorial language is immediately recognizable. He captures the explosive energy in social situations and crosses boundaries between different artforms. He is able to use photographic means to create a kind of abstract painting." — Daniel Birnbaum, a museum director