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Lot Essay
Wolfgang Tillmans is at his most intriguing in his photographs of 'the scene' - from punks and skinheads in their own environments to ravers and homosexuals in bars and clubs, especially in Cologne and London. His images of the Gay Pride Parade in London or men having sex in the 'Steifelknecht', a gay bar in Cologne, depict the most varying sides of contemporary gay life, from the political to the purely sexual. Like Nan Goldin, he is fascinated by those who live on the margins of society. On the other hand, his photographs attempt to dispel the common myths and stereotypes surrounding the so-called 'milieu' of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. And his photos are often a means of presenting and propagating his own personal views of the world that surrounds him. "I see myself as a political artist," he has argued. "I want to make a picture of my idea of beauty and the world I want to live in." (In: B. Riemschneider and U. Grosenick (eds.), 'Art at the Turn of the Millennium', Cologne 1999, p.502.)
At the same time, his works are also informed by his own experiences as a photographer and picture editor for fashion, music and lifestyle magazines, including 'The Face' and 'i-D'. But Tillmans' unique style is more than anything else a result of his masterful command of the camera. Although at first glance they appear to be mere snapshots, most of his photographs are carefully composed and structured. The composition and coloration of his photos are as equally important as the imagery. This is especially obvious when one compares his portraits of young people with his images of the Concorde, his series on the arrangement of folds in everyday clothing, his portraits of soldiers or his still life photographs. Arranged in groups or series, his photographs range in size from the intimate to the monumental, and generally include the most varied motifs in a kind of stream-of-consciousness narration. Likewise, his source material ranges from newspaper and magazine imagery to his own snapshots and staged scenes; and his materials fluctuate between colour and black and white photographs, actual magazine clippings and ink-jet prints. "In a wider sense," Burkhard Riemschneider has stressed, "Tillmans might also be seen to be hinging together seemingly distinct yet in fact overlapping domains of social experience. We can compare and interweave how he, for instance, uses photography as an opportunity to explore his relationship to lovers, the longing for idyllic love, the specificity of personal attraction, with, shall we say, his parallel involvement in the art world: dealers, fellow artists, their art works, a sense of the wider impact of art in everyday life." (In: B. Riemschneider (ed.), 'Wolfgang Tillmans', Cologne 1995, unpaged.)
At the same time, his works are also informed by his own experiences as a photographer and picture editor for fashion, music and lifestyle magazines, including 'The Face' and 'i-D'. But Tillmans' unique style is more than anything else a result of his masterful command of the camera. Although at first glance they appear to be mere snapshots, most of his photographs are carefully composed and structured. The composition and coloration of his photos are as equally important as the imagery. This is especially obvious when one compares his portraits of young people with his images of the Concorde, his series on the arrangement of folds in everyday clothing, his portraits of soldiers or his still life photographs. Arranged in groups or series, his photographs range in size from the intimate to the monumental, and generally include the most varied motifs in a kind of stream-of-consciousness narration. Likewise, his source material ranges from newspaper and magazine imagery to his own snapshots and staged scenes; and his materials fluctuate between colour and black and white photographs, actual magazine clippings and ink-jet prints. "In a wider sense," Burkhard Riemschneider has stressed, "Tillmans might also be seen to be hinging together seemingly distinct yet in fact overlapping domains of social experience. We can compare and interweave how he, for instance, uses photography as an opportunity to explore his relationship to lovers, the longing for idyllic love, the specificity of personal attraction, with, shall we say, his parallel involvement in the art world: dealers, fellow artists, their art works, a sense of the wider impact of art in everyday life." (In: B. Riemschneider (ed.), 'Wolfgang Tillmans', Cologne 1995, unpaged.)