Wolfgang Tillmans: If One Thing Matters, Everything Matters

by Wolfgang Tillmans

Wolfgang Tillmans (b. 1968) is one of the most significant European artists at work today. His informal and apparently spontaneous photographs of gay pride activists, ecowarriors, and clubbers brought him attention at an early age and eventually won him acclaim as a chronicler of his generation.
Tillmans's work spans the genres of landscape, cityscape, portraiture, and still life. He focuses on the overlooked details of life - a bunch of keys in a door, the chaotic sprawl in an open cabinet - and the grand sweep of natural phenomena, including solar eclipses and electrical storms. Packed with more than 2,000 color illustrations, this book features a fascinating interview with curator Mary Horlock in which Tillmans reveals the art historical connections and the common themes that unite his disparate work.
Published to coincide with a major exhibition at Tate Britain, If One Thing Matters, Everything Matters presents the most comprehensive survey of Tillman's work to date. Conceived and designed by the artist, it demonstrates a continually developing vision, constantly embracing new ideas and offering fresh perspectives on the world around us.

Genres: Photography

312 pages, Paperback

First published August 26, 2003

About the author

Wolfgang Tillmans is an influential contemporary German photographer whose work is in dialogue with artists such as Andreas Gursky and Gerhard Richter. Emerging in the 1990s with his snapshots of teenagers, clubs, and LGBTQ culture, Tillman’s practice has expanded to include diaristic photography, large-scale abstraction, and commissioned magazine work. “I want the pictures to be working in both directions,” the artist has said. “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.” Capturing landscapes from an airplane window, still lifes of crustaceans, or straightforward portraits, his work conveys the profundity of an encyclopedic archive. Tillmans’ attention to even the most incidental moments can be seen in his Concorde Grid (1997), a group of 56 color photos depicting the airplane taking off along with the surrounding scenes captured during the moments in between.

Born on August 16, 1968 in Remscheid, West Germany, Tillmans spent the early part of his career in London after graduating from the Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design. In 2000, he was awarded the prestigious Turner Prize, marking the first time the prize had been awarded to a photographer or non-British artist. In 2006, Tillmans established Between Bridges, a non-profit exhibition space located in Berlin. His survey show “Wolfgang Tillmans: 2017” opened at the Tate Modern in London to critical acclaim, cementing his stature in the contemporary art world. The artist currently lives and works between Berlin, Germany and London, United Kingdom. Today, his works are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, and the Kunstmuseum Basel, among others.

Reviews

[Andrew H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tillmans is mainly know for his gay aesthetic and his provocative sexual imagery (some of which occurs in thsi book). This book, however, is committed to a Quaker aesthetic and a fascination with details and how small events matter. A challenging book worth pondering,

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome, awesome, awesome. So poignant, so colorful, so dirty! everything matters.