Wolfgang Tillmans Reflects on 20 Years of Photography Ahead of Foundation Beyeler Talk

Wolfgang Tillmans will give an Artist Talk at Foundation Beyeler, co-hosted by UBS, revisiting a 2013 ArtReview interview. The Turner Prize-winning photographer discussed his 2012 project Neue Welt, exhibited at Kunsthalle Zurich and published by Taschen, which examined global changes over two decades using a digital camera for the first time. He traveled to locations like Tasmania, India, and Lampedusa, focusing on borders and surfaces. Tillmans also had exhibitions at K21 in Düsseldorf until 7 July 2013 and Museo de Arte (MALI) in Lima until 16 June 2013. He reflected on his early work, including Edinburgh Builders (1987) made with a photocopier, and his shift to abstraction in the late 1990s with series like Freischwimmer and Paper Drop. Tillmans emphasized his commitment to analogue processes, avoiding digital manipulation to preserve truth, and explored themes of humanism, value, and attention in his practice.