ART-PRESENTATION: Wolfgang Tillmans

Since the early ‘90s, Wolfgang Tillmans has earned recognition as one of the most exciting and innovative artists working today. While he made his name as a photographer, he has achieved equal acclaim for his investigations of abstract photography, including works made without a camera, and prints that take on a three-dimensional, sculptural quality.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Maureen Paley Gallery

In his new exhibition at Maureen Paley Gallery in London, Wolfgang Tillmans presents new and previously unseen work, the exhibition focus on the visible and invisible borders that define and sometimes control us. Central to the downstairs gallery is a large unframed print of “The State We’re In, A” (2015) that documents the open water of the Atlantic Ocean where international time lines and borders intersect. This is displayed alongside imagery made at the Northern and Southern European Observatories that look beyond our national boundaries. Also on show are photographs that study the visual effects of the Sun’s light entering our planet’s atmosphere and an image of human blood flowing through plastic tubes, contained outside of the body during surgery. A new grouping of tables that follow on from his ongoing series “truth study center” (2005–) are installed in the upstairs gallery. “I refuse to be your enemy 2”, (2016) enacts another use of this display format by presenting various sizes of blank office paper from Europe and North America. Inspired by a secret workshop he gave to students in Iran last year this work examines the similarities in our nationalized forms of printed communication and how these formats can unite rather than divide us.

Info: Maureen Paley Gallery, 21 Herald Street, London, Duration: 9/6-31/7/16, Days & Hours: Wed-Sun 11:00-18:00, www.maureenpaley.com