Wolfgang Tillmans: Reader presents for the first time in a systematic way the artist's contributions as a thinker, writer, and speaker, engaging the issues of our time through a great complexity of creative expression. From the beginning of his career, Wolfgang Tillmans made as much of an impact on the printed page as he did on the wall - interweaving text and image and reflecting on his photographic practice in writing. In advance of the major exhibition of his work at MoMA, this anthology brings together texts and interviews spanning more than three decades, never-before-published materials, and reproductions of magazine and book pages. Arranged chronologically, this comprehensive panorama reflects Tillmans' thoughts on photography, music, nightlife, astronomy, spirituality, politics, and activism. The sources are as diverse as its content: conversations originally published in exhibition catalogues are supplemented by social media posts and song lyrics. Highly topical and engaging, this volume traces Tillmans' contributions to art and cultural criticism hand-in-hand with the social and cultural changes of the last thirty years.

 

The work of WOLFGANG TILLMANS (*1968, Remscheid) has repeatedly challenged the possibilities of image-making for over 30 years. His practice combines intimacy with social criticism and the questioning of existing values and hierarchies. After making a name for himself in the early 1990s with his style-defining photographs of youth and popular culture, his work has expanded to include a wide variety of genres and photographic practices. He was awarded the Turner Prize in 2000, the Hasselblad Award in 2015, and the 2018 Goslar Kaiserring Award. Tillmans lives and works in London and Berlin.