Chicago Installation,
2003

Although they employ traditional genres such as portraiture, landscape, and abstraction, Wolfgang Tillmans's photographic installations-in conjunction with the magazines, artist's books, and postcards that disseminate his work-challenge conventional ideas of photography and the way it is exhibited. Tillmans often juxtaposes unframed images of varying sizes and formats, placing inkjet prints alongside glossy chromogenic prints, and recombining material from prior installations with new work. As the artist explains, "half my work is in the photograph, and half is in the installation." This work, designed specifically for the Art Institute, presents a selection of images from the past decade, intermingling ephemeral moments of contemporary life with his recent abstract studies of surface textures.