Wolfgang Tillmans. Today Is The First Day

Wolfgang Tillmans is one of the most influential artists of his generation, is known for pushing the limits of photography and image-making. His ambition as an artist is nothing less than to capture the world we live in. Weaving its way across the wealth of media and the variety of his subjects, the notion at the core of Tillmans's work is that of visibility. When does something become perceptible? What is the relationship between what we perceive and what we know? What impact do new technologies have on how we see the world? These questions reveal the political reach of Tillmans's work. Since his first images, which bore witness to the new social and cultural paradigms brought into being by a generation marked by the AIDS crisis and the fall of the Berlin Wall, Tillmans has always shown a strong political consciousness. For several years now, his political commitment has ventured beyond the practice of art and into social activism and the defense of democracy and minority rights via his foundation, Between Bridges, and a number of pro-EU campaigns that he initiated.

Konzipiert und gestaltet von Wolfgang Tillmans, erscheint Today Is The First Day in Verbindung mit den Einzelausstellungen Rebuilding the Future, im IMMA, Dublin und Today Is The First Day, in WIELS, Brüssel. Das reichhaltig bebilderte Künstlerbuch erkundet die jüngsten Entwicklungen in Tillmans' Werk über die letzten drei Jahre und umfasst seinen vielschichtigen Zugang zum Bild, zu Video, Performance, Musik und seinen politischen Aktivitäten. Darüber hinaus beinhaltet es neue Texte von Autor innen wie der Schriftstellerin Olivia Laing, dem Historiker Brian Dillon, der Kuratorin Catherine Wood und dem Geologen Dr. David Chew. Jede r von ihnen beleuchtet einen anderen Aspekt von Tillmans' uvre.
Today Is The First Day umfasst allein über 30 Seiten, die Tillmans' Bühnendesign für die Produktion von War Requiem an der English National Opera gewidmet sind, sowie jüngste Porträts und detaillierte Installationsansichten, die einen tiefen Einblick in Tillmans' Ausstellungspraxis gewähren, an Orten wie Kinshasa und Goslar, Hong Kong und Johannesburg.