Wolfgang Tillmans - 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale London Wednesday, June 29, 2022 | Phillips

20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale

London Auction 29 June 2022

  • Separate System, Reading Prison (self c) is a self-portrait by Wolfgang Tillmans and forms part of a series of 3 self-portraits and one image of the mirror alone that were created for Artangel’s 2016 project at HM Prison Reading. Exploring the agony of isolation, the distorted self-portrait of the artist is captured in a mirror in one of the cells that Oscar Wild was incarcerated in from 1895 to 1987 after the poet and playwright was convicted of gross indecency with other men.

     

    This work is a medium size and is from an edition of 3 plus 1 artist's proof. The small sizes of these works are editions of 10 plus 1 artist's proof.

    • Provenance

      Galerie Buchholz, Cologne
      Acquired from the above by the present owner

    • Artist Biography

      Wolfgang Tillmans

      German • 1968

      Since the early 1990s, Wolfgang Tillmans has pushed the boundaries of the photographic medium. Challenging the indexical nature traditionally associated with photography, his abstract and representational photographic bodies of work each in their own way put forward the notion of the photograph as object—rather than as a record of reality. While achieving his breakthrough with portraits and lifestyle photographs, documenting celebrity culture as well as LGBTQ communities and club culture, since the turn of the millennium the German photographer has notably created abstract work such as the Freischwimmer series, which is made in the darkroom without a camera.

      Seamlessly integrating genres, subject matters, techniques and exhibition strategies, Tillmans is known for photographs that pair playfulness and intimacy with a persistent questioning of dominant value and hierarchy structures of our image-saturated world. In 2000, Tillmans was the first photographer to receive the prestigious Turner Prize.

      View More Works

179

Wolfgang Tillmans

Separate System, Reading Prison (self c)

inkjet print, in artist's frame
81.1 x 61.9 cm (31 7/8 x 24 3/8 in.)
Executed in 2016, this work is number 1 from an edition of 3 plus 1 artist's proof.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
£20,000 - 30,000 ‡♠

Sold for £20,160

Contact Specialist

Simon Tovey

Specialist, Associate Director, Head of Day Sale, 20th Century & Contemporary Art
+44 20 7318 4084

stovey@phillips.com

20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale

London Auction 29 June 2022