Wolfgang Tillmans
Freedom From The Known
2006
Xerox print on heavy paper
29,8 × 42 cm
Edition of 20 copies, signed and numbered by the artist
This edition comes with a copy of Krishnamurti's publication Freedom From The Known
Uitverkocht
over dit werk
This edition is part of Salon Verlag’s Ex Libris Series, for which they invite an artist to reprint their ‘favourite’ book. Each re-printed book comes with a special artist designed cover or dust jacket. These publications cover various disciplines – including medicine, physics, literature, philosophy, travel, art history and urban planning – and provide insight into the creative backgrounds of the invited artist. Of every book, Salon Verlag makes a limited collector’s edition that comes with limited edition print or unqiue artwork.
Of this book, Wolfgang Tillmans says “I first came across the name Krishnamurti when studying at Bournemouth College in the early 1990s; my tutor Tony Maestri referred to him occasionally. Then Gilbert & George mentioned him to me when I portrayed them in 1997. In 2002 I then saw a notice in a Quaker meeting house announcing Krishnamurti video screenings. I went and bought some books and felt very at home and inspired by his writing and thinking. I often observe that it takes three cues until one acts on something. After the third time hearing his name, I acted upon it. Freedom from the Known is my favourite book of the few of his I own. It works as a whole but also particularly well when just opened up at any page and read for three or four pages. The design of the paperback cover seemed perfect as it was, so for the Ex Libris I didn’t want to take away the cover photographed by Cecil Beaton. Instead I designed a dust jacket for which I used my photograph paper drop (Krishnamurti) 2005.”
over Wolfgang Tillmans
Over the past 30 years, Wolfgang Tillmans has redefined photography and the way it is presented. Known in the early 1990s for his seemingly casual images of the world he inhabited, his work reassessed photographic conventions and reflected the culture and identity politics of the time, capturing the fragility of human life and focusing on everyday objects. His work has always engaged with portraiture, landscape and still life, but more recently Tillmans has turned to a deeper exploration of abstraction, and has pushed the boundaries and definitions of the photographic form.
Tillmans continually challenges photographic practice by playing with exhibition methods, often pinning or taping his work to gallery walls, building study tables that resemble museological vitrines, or creating wall-based cases for selected works. Each exhibition is a renegotiation and rearrangement of material, ideas and subjects. For each installation, he investigates the process of exhibition and image-making, intuitively reflecting the politics of our shared contemporary society. Tillmans’ images capture the essence of a moment, and the pictures and installations that the artist has created over the last three decades are an alchemical blend of detachment and engagement.
(courtesy of Serpentine Gallery)
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