Renowned German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans is currently presenting his work at two dramatically different venues, offering visitors a glimpse into the world he wishes to inhabit. The exhibitions, featuring his surprising, tender, moving, and sexy photographs, are running simultaneously at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and in his hometown of Remscheid, Germany.
The Paris exhibition, titled "Rien ne nous y préparait – Tout nous y préparait" (Nothing could have prepared us for this – Everything could have prepared us for this), is housed in the public library (Bibliothèque publique d'information or BPI) on the second floor of the Centre Pompidou. Visitors reach the space via a long escalator, passing through dimly lit antechambers before entering the vast, well-illuminated hall. This marks a historic moment for the iconic building, as it represents the final exhibition before the Centre Pompidou closes for five years of renovation starting at the end of September.
Tillmans, widely regarded as the most influential photographer of his generation, rose to prominence in the 1990s by capturing club and party scenes with a fragile and empathetic approach, never voyeuristic. He photographed fashion for contemporary magazines, working with supermodels like Kate Moss alongside friends, musicians, and unknown subjects. His work seeks contemporary versions of landscape, still life, and sexuality, connecting them with his own social experiences.
"Half of my work, probably even more, is staged," Tillmans explains. He carries numerous themes and images in his mind, which he then implements, yet everything appears utterly real in the final result. His photographs invite viewers to look closely at details and trust their own gaze, whether examining past decades, recent years, yesterday, or the present moment.
The Paris installation spans 6,000 square meters, where countless photographs in various formats – from oversized to postcard-sized – are either framed or seemingly casually pinned to walls with staples. The works blend with private objects including discarded cell phones, empty water bottles, magazines, and books. A portrait of Lady Gaga sitting in a green garden hangs at a window front, while visitors' gazes simultaneously wander to the stone plaza in front of the Centre Pompidou and the sea of Parisian buildings beyond.
Tillmans demonstrates his mastery of unusual spaces, intelligently utilizing every corner of the brutalist architecture. His photographs appear everywhere – in narrow corridors next to fire extinguishers, on reading tables, at information points, and in bookshelves. At the end of one corridor lined with BPI books, a photograph of Jodie Foster in a yellow T-shirt suddenly appears. Small side rooms that were never accessible to the public now feature films, photocopiers, and occasional music – all arranged with systematic precision and years of preparation.
The building itself becomes part of the artwork. The blue ventilation pipes running along the ceiling, the mottled mouse-gray-green carpet, and strangely arranged purple color fields all contribute to the installation's impact. These architectural elements, including the different carpet colors from various decades and the blue pipes, will disappear during the renovation as the building removes asbestos and updates fire safety, energy supply, and other systems.
Tillmans' approach to photography extends beyond traditional methods. He works with light, paper, shadows, and movement, creating images in his darkroom without cameras through photochemical processes. His colorful C-prints become three-dimensional through creased folds and are displayed under plexiglass covers. His abstract "paper drops" made from photographic paper sheets and the coveted, airy "Freischwimmer" (Free Swimmer) series demonstrate his innovative techniques.
Increasingly, Tillmans produces small videos. The BPI features an on-demand section where visitors can access all his short films from the past five years for the first time. These include sequences of nighttime drives through rain-soaked city streets, beautifully capturing light reflections – possibly filmed in Berlin, London (where he alternately lives), or perhaps Remscheid, his birthplace in 1968.
The Remscheid exhibition presents a striking contrast to Paris, housed in the completely renovated Haus Cleff, normally home to the German Tool Museum. The rokoko architecture with its slate facade, green shutters, and ornate decorations stands in stark opposition to the brutalist Centre Pompidou. Here, Tillmans occupies three floors totaling 600 square meters across many small rooms, with each image positioned with perfect precision.
The Remscheid show bridges different worlds and time periods. A photograph of his mother from behind, wearing an undershirt with a hair dryer at a desk, was taken when he was 23 years old. Last year, he portrayed a steel worker in Remscheid wearing a heat apron, protective helmet, and open visor. "Robin Fischer, Dirostahl, Remscheid" looks as familiarly into the camera as Kate Moss posing in a transparent shirt behind a table full of strawberries.
This juxtaposition of glamorous fashion world and rough working-class reality reflects Tillmans' interest in diverse aspects of life and pressing contemporary issues. He has been interested in politics since his youth, understanding how his private life and freedom of expression depend on the political environment. In 2017, he founded "Between Bridges," a foundation promoting democracy, international understanding, the arts, and LGBTQ rights.
Following Brexit in 2020, Tillmans wrote about the responsibility to defend the free world order, to hold the center and not contribute to the centrifugal energies surrounding us. He knows, as the exhibition title suggests, "We are still in the majority." The Paris exhibition runs until September 22 at the Centre Pompidou, while the Remscheid show continues until January 4 at Haus Cleff.
