On April 25, German artist and Turner Prize-winner Wolfgang Tillmans released an official statement on his website about the anti-EU sentiment and the pending referendum by the United Kingdom. Unhappy with the official “Remain” campaign, Tillmans designed several posters and offered them as free downloads to the general public, hoping that this would fuel a “one-in-a-generation moment.” His reasons for being involved in this campaign were obvious — Tillmans has been visiting and working partly out of London since the past 25 years, feeling more grounded in Britain than in Germany.Last week, the results shocked the world as Britain opted out of the European Union. In what seems like an apt time to engage with the idea of borders and time lines, Tilmmans’ eighth solo exhibition (self-titled) has opened at Maureen Paley gallery in London. Definitely walking the political line, the center-masterpiece is a large print titled, “The State We’re In, A,” 2015, unframed and looming large, depicting the rippling waves of the Atlantic Ocean, where international time lines and borders intersect. The image is both calm and unsettling, forcing one to consider the complexities of borders and migration even as one can feel the waters explode with conflict. Over the years, Tillmans’ photographs have embraced diversity and a sense of disorientation in their content. Even at this show, the deliberate levels of interpretive possibilities are maintained so that viewers respond to the works in relation to their position in the world. The exhibition is designed in his usual style, sporting a variety of different-sized prints in clusters and corners. From photographs that dwell on the monotony of immigration desks to a large close-up image of blood flowing through a tube during a procedure titled, “Open Heart Bypass,” 2015, Tillmans is pushing everyone to notice the edges of a designed, routine existence. At the upstairs gallery, a new grouping of tables looks forward from his “truth study center” series (2005- ongoing). This installation uses blank office paper of five standard sizes from Europe and North America displayed on wood tables, hinting at elements of likeness across borders amid existing differences.His pro-EU poster campaign is part of the show as well, displayed at the exterior of the gallery and it is clear in this show that Tillmans is very aware of his own politics since he sees himself as a product of the European post-war history of reconciliation, peace and exchange. “However, the more pressing reason why I morphed in recent months from an inherently political, to an overtly political person, lies in my observation of the larger geopolitical situation and an understanding of Western cultures, as sleepwalkers into the abyss,” says Tillmans.“Wolfgang Tillmans” is on view at Maureen Paley, London, through July 31, 2016
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