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Lot Essay
“I think art is most interesting when it's somehow a co-existence of chance and control, of what I know, what I try to control, and what I can't – for me of course, it's always somehow about representing what I see with my eyes.” – Wolfgang Tillmans
Light and delicate, the current work is from Tillmans' celebrated Freischwimmer series. Instead of using a camera, the artist works directly in the darkroom, using both hands to direct light onto the photo paper, giving the photographic paper a strange and psychedelic colour and pattern.
In this work, the artist attempts to create a conversation between photography and abstract expressionist painting. The dynamic pattern is reminiscent of the works of Morris Louis and Helen Frankenthaler. The Freischwimmer series blurs the boundary between media and genre. It represents an important chapter in Tillmans' art practice, and is therefore widely collected by worldrenowned institutions including the Tate and MoMA. In 2021, he will hold a large retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York to celebrate his contribution to photography.
Light and delicate, the current work is from Tillmans' celebrated Freischwimmer series. Instead of using a camera, the artist works directly in the darkroom, using both hands to direct light onto the photo paper, giving the photographic paper a strange and psychedelic colour and pattern.
In this work, the artist attempts to create a conversation between photography and abstract expressionist painting. The dynamic pattern is reminiscent of the works of Morris Louis and Helen Frankenthaler. The Freischwimmer series blurs the boundary between media and genre. It represents an important chapter in Tillmans' art practice, and is therefore widely collected by worldrenowned institutions including the Tate and MoMA. In 2021, he will hold a large retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York to celebrate his contribution to photography.