WOLFGANG TILLMANS - Fragile

Wolfgang Tillmans’ touring exhibition, Fragile, is coming to the Johannesburg Art Gallery this July after making stops in Kinshasa and Nairobi. This exhibition, which will be touring many more cities on the continent over the next few years, is presented by the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen/ Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa) in collaboration with Tillmans and the Goethe-Institut.

Tillmans holds a prominent place in the world of contemporary art. As an artist, he has redefined the medium of photography “both as an image and as a material artefact” since the early 1990s.

The artist sees the acceptance of human fragility as a strength rather than a weakness when it comes to how we relate to one another and believes when we make mistakes and are fragile, it often leads to new developments.

According to a press release issued by the Goethe-Institut and ifa, the body of work includes: “his pictures of club culture in the 1990s, abstract works based on extreme formal reduction, the beauty of the everyday and pictures of the sublime, a sensual gaze full of physical desire and an analytical perspective with great social and political awareness”.

Fragile is an extensive look at the multi-faceted work of Tillmans ranging from large-scale prints to sculptural objects, video projections, music and curational work.

As part of the exhibition tour, there will be a catalogue in both English and French, which will include a local contribution at each venue. The authors are Christine Eyene, N’Goné Fall, Bart van der Heide and Ashraf Jamal and will include Khwezi Gule and Neo Muyanga for the Johannesburg version.