Artist: Wolfgang Tillmans

You’ve already seen Wolfgang Tillmans’ work. Quite nearly anyone who follows photography has seen work that contains the same still life’s, urban culture, etc.  Tillmans photographs cliché subjects, more over, he photographs some of the most cliché subjects you can think of, but he does it well. According to Jerry Saltz, he has a way of making “something powerful and personal out of [the most] impossibly clichéd subjects.” I know I’ve seen dozens or more photos of a bird eating or a shadow from a piece of paper, or a slice of urban architecture, but Tillmans proves that the subject matter is not nearly as important as the artist’s eye. In my own work I’m taking an extremely “been done” subject matter and attempting to make my viewer rethink and “resee” their family connections. While our subject matter differs, our goals are the same, we both want our viewers to see something familiar in a new way.

Wolfgang Tillmans

b. 1968, Germany

“Wolfgang Tillmans is a fast-starter. Within just a few years, he succeeds in rising from a young German provincial photographer to become the star of the international art scene. Even before his study from 1990-92 at the Bournemouth & Poole College of Art and Design, Tillmans has a number of small exhibitions and is published in various 'Zeitgeist' magazines. This crossover between photographic art and lifestyle remains a noticeable constant in his work. At first glance, Tillmans' pictures look like snapshots, authentic documents of a metropolitan subculture. In fact, they are carefully staged interpretations of reality. Tillmans translates his personal experiences and sensations into pictures. He photographs what he loves. His glance is without cynical distance. The people know that they are being photographed. They are not objects - they are accomplices who are helping Tillmans to present his subjective view of reality. This honesty in the generating process is what gives the pictures their warmth and credibility. For exhibitions, Tillmans combines the photographs of people with still life photos, cityscapes and landscapes to create spacious collages. Without glass or frame, he simply sticks the pictures to the wall. The colour enlargements adjoin torn-out newspaper pages and ink-jet prints. In the museum too. Tillmans strives for pure expression, without idealisation or excess. With this style, he has a definitive effect on the aesthetics of the nineties and become the model for a whole generation. In 1993, his first major exhibition is held at Daniel Buchholz in Cologne, followed in 1995 by the Kunsthalle, Zurich, and the Portikus, Frankfurt, and then the Kunstmuseum, Wolfsburg, in 1996. In the same year, he also shows his works at the "New Photography" group exhibition in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Tillmans is the first photographer to win the Turner Prize, in 2001, which is one of the most significant awards for contemporary art.”

"Wolfgang Tillmans - Biography and Offers." Ketter Kunst. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov 2010. <http://www.kettererkunst.com/bio/WolfgangTillmans-1968.shtml>.

“Tillmans is interested in the skin of the world, the way it changes over the years.”

Cumming, Laura. "Wolfgang Tillmans | Art Review | Art and Design | The Observer." guardian.co.uk. Guardian News and Media Limited, 27 Jun 2010. Web. 15 Nov 2010. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/jun/27/wolfgang-tillmans-serpentine-review-cumming>.

“In one shot, a man is in the Ganges, but he’s presented from such an odd angle that Tillmans avoids both the hopelessly generic and easy exploitation.”

Saltz, Jerry. "Jerry Saltz on Wolfgang Tillmans -- New York Magazine Art Review." New York Magazine. New York Media LLC, 14 Feb 2010. Web. 15 Nov 2010. <http://nymag.com/arts/art/reviews/63774/>.

 Sizes/Print Information Unavailable

Artist Review

Gallery Representation

Artist Website

Lecture: Julika Rudelius Q's and Response

"Julika Rudelius was born in 1968 in Cologne, Germany, and is currently based in Amsterdam. She attended the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Hamburg, Germany, from 1993-1994, the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam from 1995-1996 and participated in the Rijksakademie artist-in-residence program from 1999-2001. Her work has been exhibited in various solo and group shows in Europe. Her videos, usually showing people in 'everyday' interactions, are marked by an ambiguity between 'staged' and 'spontaneous' situations. The works look on social behaviour patterns as well as on physical and verbal communication, especially with respect to the question how these contribute to the creation and reproduction of social hierarchy. This intersects with an exploration of issues of sexuality, including shifting dynamics of sex and power and our cultural need to verbally express sexual detail."
<http://catalogue.nimk.nl/site/?page=/site/artist.php%3Fid%3D10297>


Questions


Do you think that your feminist voice has disappeared from your work?


Do you feel like you exploit your subjects?




Response


At the beginning of the lecture I was very interested in Rudelius' take on masculine interactions regarding women in Germany.  Her pieces posed some interesting questions about how males view women. As she dove further and further into her work, however, the tone began to change moving from exploring women's sexuality to investigating politicians and criticizing the rich housewives of the Hamptons in America. I found myself growing increasingly angry with Rudelius the more she spoke on her motivations for her more recent work as it felt like she was manipulating her subjects to portray a less than ideal image of them.  While I understand what she is trying to say and her motivations behind her voice, I don't believe this excuses the practice of deceit to achieve her end goal.

Artist: Rineke Dijkstra

Rineke Dijkstra’s minimalist style evokes form her viewers countless questions about her subject matter. Her portraits all seem very candid and spur of the moment but are often quite calculated and posed. She specifically deals with adolescents in her work, posing questions about how her subjects will grow up and what they will become.  The juxtaposition of a simple background with the complicated nature of the concepts of her subjects makes her work very engaging.

"(b. 1959, Sittard, the Netherlands. Lives and works in Amsterdam.)
Rineke Dijkstra was trained at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam. Her first solo exhibition took place in 1984 at de Moor in Amsterdam. Dijsktra's photographs have appeared in numerous international exhibitions, including the 1997 and 2001 Venice Biennale, the 1998 Bienal de Sao Paulo, Turin's Biennale Internationale di Fotografia in 1999, and the 2003 International Center for Photography's Triennial of Photography and Video in New York. She is the recipient of a number of awards, including the Kodak Award Nederland (1987), the Art Encouragement Award Amstelveen (1993), the Werner Mantz Award (1994), and the Citibank Private Bank Photography Prize (1998)."

"Rineke Dijkstra - Marian Goodman Gallery." Marian Goodman Gallery. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Oct 2010. <http://www.mariangoodman.com/artists/rineke-dijkstra/>.

“I want to show things you might not see in normal life. I make normal things appear special. I want people to look at life in a new and different way, but it always has to be based on reality. It's important that you don't pass judgement, and leave space for interpretation.” – Rineke Dijkstra

Jaeger, Anne-celine. "A Conversation with Rineke Dijkstra." PopPhoto.com. Bonnier Corp., 16 Dec 2008. Web. 01 Oct 2010. <http://www.popphoto.com/Features/A-Conversation-with-Rineke-Dijkstra>.

"Always stay close to your own experiences. It's very important to photograph what you like, not what you dislike."- Rineke Dijkstra

Pulver, Andrew. "Photographer Rineke Dijkstra's best shot."guardian.co.uk. Guardian News and Media Limited, 27 Jan 2010. Web. 01 Oct 2010. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/jan/27/photography-rineke-dijkstra-best-shot>.

Taken From: http://images.artnet.com/artwork_images_184989_183625_rineke-dijkstra.jpg

Taken From: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/images/h2/h2_2001.307.jpg

Taken From: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN4CzAflJ92O_kmMFvmvwsvri4rh7PRpG6X9-yxoGj-B8zBMJnE7qVluN9NGLxCVhhrtMgJMuSqZepEpW17QCyGE86dXBLRO0Thv0kvmmAwb9JgziFIRe7qzKmXcB364FC42xuZgxqtxmt/s1600/Rineke_Dijkstra_1.jpg

Taken From: http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l8tzq5z0Rh1qdq16ko3_r1_500.jpg

Artist Interview

Gallery

No Artist Website.

Idea: Repression

Psychologically, repression is when an individual attempts to stifle one’s own desires and motivations towards pleasurable things.  This act mainly derived from a fear that an outside force will prevent an individual’s desire from coming to pass; in an attempt to prevent suffering the desire is eliminated from one’s consciousness.

I’ve recently noticed that in a lot of my recent work there has been a subtle release of various memories of events from my past that I have not thought about in a very long time. Repressing memories as a means of self preservation, a defense mechanism, is not an uncommon occurrence in families today. I know many families, including my own, who have suffered from an uncommon and/or tragic event that quite nearly destroys the family structure then, as quickly as it happened, the event is swept under the rug.  While this is not “true” repression, it is a stifling of memory in fear of a negative circumstance continuing in one’s life.

"...horrific experiences are stored but 'forgotten.' Some of these memories later return in flashbacks...The body keeps store, but the brain doesn't always remember."-B.A. Van der Kolk

Robinson, B.A. "Quotations about repressed memories and recovered memory therapy (RMT)." Religious Tolerance.org. N.p., 14 Feb 2009. Web. 23 Sep 2010. <http://www.religioustolerance.org/rmtquote.htm>.

"We obtain our concept of the unconscious, therefore, from the theory of repression… We see, however that we have two kinds of unconscious — that which is latent but capable of becoming conscious, and that which is repressed and not capable of becoming conscious in the ordinary way"-Sigmund Freud

"Sigmund Freud - Wikiquote." Wikiquote. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sep 2010. <http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sigmund_Freud>

Taken From: http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/images/Great%20Repression%20Human%20Brain%20in%20Cage.jpg

Artist: Bradley Peters

Bradley Peters' work focuses on staging photographs to seem like snapshots of a moment in peoples' lives. His work often takes place in a home life situation. He places people in a scene then waits for "something to happen," his directed spontaneity motivates the viewer to discover. Each photo seems like a memory the viewer has recalled about a specific moment in his or her life. Essentially, each photo is an investigation of memory, ritual, materiality, neurosis, and the world itself. I find this work especially captivating since there is such a similarity in the chaos of his work with that of my own.

"Bradley Peters was born in Columbus, Nebraska, in 1979. He received a BA from the University of Nebraska—Lincoln in 2004, with degrees in both Psychology and Art. In 2002 and 2003 he was awarded the UNL Creative Activities & Research Experiences Grant. He is also the recipient of the Jean R. Faulkner Memorial Award, the Gold Award from the Midwest Society for Photographic Education, and the Richard Benson Prize. He is a 2008 graduate of the MFA program in Photography at the Yale University School of Art."

Clark, Tim. "1000 Words Photography Magazine: Bradley Peters." 1000 Words Photography Magazine. N.p., 21 Oct 2008. Web. 20 Sep 2010.




"Sometimes it feels like it's about the idea of how everything is connected and pulling on everything else, or how destruction is just really transformation — where there is a change in form but not in energy."

Clark, Tim. "1000 Words Photography Magazine: Bradley Peters." 1000 Words Photography Magazine. N.p., 21 Oct 2008. Web. 20 Sep 2010. 




"It is kind of like hearing a strange sound coming from another room that seems both at once recognizable and unfamiliar. It is the compulsion to discover its source. Although this pursuit may seem to be inevitably elusive and fruitless, I am hoping to gain whatever understanding I can through the process."

Clark, Tim. "1000 Words Photography Magazine: Bradley Peters." 1000 Words Photography Magazine. N.p., 21 Oct 2008. Web. 20 Sep 2010. 

All images from Bradley Peters' series: Home Theater
No information regarding name, dimension or print type available.

Interview
http://www.zoodisk.com/post/a-conversation-with-cpc-2009-winner-bradley-peters/7163

Gallery Link
http://monet.unk.edu/mona/exhibitions.html

Artists Website
http://www.bradleypeters.com/

Artist Lecture: Wafaa Bilal

"Iraqi born artist Wafaa Bilal has exhibited his art world wide, and traveled and lectured extensively to inform audiences of the situation of the Iraqi people, and the importance of peaceful conflict resolution. Bilal's 2007 dynamic installation Domestic Tension placed him on the receiving end of a paintball gun that was accessible online to a worldwide audience, 24 hours a day. Newsweek called the project “breathtaking” and the Chicago Tribune called the month-long piece "one of the sharpest works of political art to be seen in a long time," and named Bilal its 2007 Artist of the Year. Bilal has exhibited worldwide including in Baghdad, the Netherlands, Thailand and Croatia; as well as at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, the Milwaukee Art Museum and various other US galleries. His residencies have included Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, California; Catwalk in New York; and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In fall 2008 City Lights published “Shoot an Iraqi: Life, Art and Resistance Under the Gun,” about Bilal’s life and the Domestic Tension project."

Bilal, Wafaa. "Bio." Wafaa Bilal.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sep 2010. <http://www.wafaabilal.com/html/bio.html>.

Questions:

Why do you  believe it is important for you to make art that comments on your heritage in America?

Do you believe that your work influences the American public's view on what is happening/has happened in the Middle East and Iraq?

Lecture Response:

Bilal's work is extremely controversial, with that said, it's very well thought out and meticulously planned to make the viewer think, it's not simply controversy for controversy's sake.  The work specifically deals with human (American) ignorance, forces the viewer to consider their own ideals and question their own personal practices.  I find this effect amazing, as an artist one of the greatest achievements is influencing the viewers outlook on life and belief system. I, personally, have not witnessed art that has engaged me or challenged me in such a relatable manner.

Idea: Identity

The factors that determine one's identity have been debated and discussed for centuries. 

“Identity is conceptualized as a broad biopsychosocial self-definition that encompasses the individual’s self-representation in the areas of physical functioning, cognition, personality, relationships, occupation, and social roles broadly defined. Normal, healthy(nondepressed) adults attempt to maintain positive views of themselves in these realms, preferring to see themselves as loving, competent, and good. This set of positive self-attributions is maintained primarily through the process of identity assimilation, which, as in Piaget’s theory, is defined as the interpretation of new experiences through the existing schema of identity. When experiences become sufficiently discrepant from an existing identity, the individual may then begin to make appropriate shifts through identity accommodation. According to the theory, as in Piaget’s, it is assumed that the ideal state is one of balance or dynamic equilibrium between identity assimilation and identity accommodation.” (Whitbourne, Susan, Joel Sneed, and Karyn Skultety. "Identity processes in adulthood: Theoretical and methodological challenges." Identity An International Journal of Theory and Research. 2.1 (2002): 29-45. Print.)

The concept of identity and who I am plays a huge role in my work. Specifically, my family has had a great influence on determining who I am and why I am the way I am.  Ideally, I want to use my research to communicate how family influence one's development as a person and as an artist.

Artist: Larry Sultan

Larry Sultan is an art, commercial, and editorial photographer. His intended to look as if he happened upon a situation despite the fact that it's entirely staged. While his work is composed of a varying number subjects, Sultan has a way of projecting himself into his own work. As his father said regarding a photo from the series Pictures from Home, "That's not me sitting on the bed, that's you sitting on the bed. That's a self portrait." His ability to project self into an image and make it a commentary about the subject and place within the photo is quite astounding.

Born 1946 in the state of New York, three years later they moved to California where Sultan graduated from the University of California in 1968 with a B.A. and from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1973 with an M.F.A. Ten years later, he began work on  what became one of his most well known projects Pictures from Home. It took him a full decade to complete the project. During the later years of his career he battle ferociously with cancer until he passed away in Dec. 2009.

"The difference of course is that my own pictures figure predominately in Pictures From Home and stand in contest to the image/artifacts of my parents. But similar to Evidence the intentions of the project are to push at and extend notions of documentary practice.”

Gefter, Philip. "Larry Sultan's California Dreams" December 17, 2009.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-12-17/larry-sultans-california-dreams/?cid=tag:all1

“What happens when – as I interpreted my father’s fate – corporations discard their no-longer-young employees, and how the resulting frustrations and feelings of powerlessness find their way into family relations”

"Larry Sultan."

http://www.mocp.org/collections/permanent/sultan_larry.php

Interviews:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlUau7LcpEE

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121605471

Gallery:

http://www.wirtzgallery.com/bios/bio_sultan-2.html

Website:

Larry Sultan does not have a personal website.