Wolfgang Tillmans, Tate Modern ★★★★★
We knew him as a hip young visionary, but this giddying Tate Modern show marks German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans as a visionary
Tillmans Tate Modern exhibition © Wolfgang Tillmans
Instagram images wallpaper our world. Disposable, rainbow-pretty and feather-light - shards of make-believe destined for newsfeeds, and not much else.
A trip to the Tate Modern's Wolfgang Tillmans exhibition reminds you what photography can achieve. His work hits you like a landslide. To anyone who sees him as an overhyped fashion photographer, this exhibition is proof of his wizardry. They are remarkably human - appealing not just to our sense of sight, but taste, smell and touch. A fly buzzing over leftover lobster, the blast of a waterfall, the pale skin of a young boy's neck, an anus blown up to gigantic proportions. We are meant to feel shocked; to feel small - but the Tillman' forcefulness never feels crass or heavy-handed.
Tillmans made a name for himself back in the '90s as a photojournalist for i-D and The Face. He shot casual, throwaway images of the club scene in London and Berlin, as well as the burgeoning Gay Pride movement. In 2000, he became the first ever photographer to win the Turner Prize. The installation was made up of hundreds of photos, in every kind of format you can imagine: polaroids, photocopies, inkjet prints, panoramas.
This interest in innovative presentation has prevailed - few images are framed at this Tate show - they come in every shape and size, are tacked naked onto the wall, hide above doorframes. The show feels irreverent, even anarchic. A lesser photographer would risk too-cool-for-school ism, but Tillmans' images blaze forth.
A triumph.
A trip to the Tate Modern's Wolfgang Tillmans exhibition reminds you what photography can achieve. His work hits you like a landslide. To anyone who sees him as an overhyped fashion photographer, this exhibition is proof of his wizardry. They are remarkably human - appealing not just to our sense of sight, but taste, smell and touch. A fly buzzing over leftover lobster, the blast of a waterfall, the pale skin of a young boy's neck, an anus blown up to gigantic proportions. We are meant to feel shocked; to feel small - but the Tillman' forcefulness never feels crass or heavy-handed.
Tillmans made a name for himself back in the '90s as a photojournalist for i-D and The Face. He shot casual, throwaway images of the club scene in London and Berlin, as well as the burgeoning Gay Pride movement. In 2000, he became the first ever photographer to win the Turner Prize. The installation was made up of hundreds of photos, in every kind of format you can imagine: polaroids, photocopies, inkjet prints, panoramas.
This interest in innovative presentation has prevailed - few images are framed at this Tate show - they come in every shape and size, are tacked naked onto the wall, hide above doorframes. The show feels irreverent, even anarchic. A lesser photographer would risk too-cool-for-school ism, but Tillmans' images blaze forth.
A triumph.
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| What | Wolfgang Tillmans, Tate Modern |
| Where | Tate Modern, Bankside, London, SE1 9TG | MAP |
| Nearest tube | Southwark (underground) |
| When |
15 Feb 17 – 11 Jun 17, Sunday to Thursday 10.00–18.00 Friday to Saturday 10.00–22.00 |
| Price | £FREE for Members Ticket information and booking will be available shortly |
| Website | Click here for more information |