‘Fold Me,’ German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans first solo show at David Zwirner Gallery in New York since his blockbuster MoMA retrospective last year, embraces the concept of the fold – the antithesis of linearity. In the curves of a river shot from overhead or the crumpled forms of a dropped item of clothing, the artist subtly positions the viewer to question defined boundaries and the distinctions between inside and out. In this piece, ‘Lennartz Factory Washroom,’ Tillmans pictures orderly rows of sinks in the washroom of a tool manufacturer in his hometown of Remsheid. With this subject matter, Tillmans himself cycles back to a place he once lived in, disrupting the idea of an artist leaving never to return. Though the room’s design is an exercise in repetition – like factory labor itself – with recurring sets of sinks, arrangement of windows, rows of pipes and lighting fixtures on the ceiling and a grid of floor tiles, the picture comes alive with towels that break the uniformity. (On view in Chelsea through Oct 14th).
Wolfgang Tillmans, Lennartz Factory Washroom, inkjet print on paper mounted on Dibond aluminum in artist’s frame, 2023.
Merrily Kerr is an art critic and writer based in New York. For more than 20 years, Merrily has published in international art magazines including Time Out New York, Art on Paper, Flash Art, Art Asia Pacific, Art Review, and Tema Celeste in addition to writing catalogue essays and guest lecturing. Merrily teaches art appreciation at Marymount Manhattan College and has taught for Cooper Union Continuing Education.
For more than a decade Merrily has crafted personalized tours of cultural discovery in New York's galleries and museums for individuals and groups, including corporate tours, collectors, artists, advertising agencies, and student groups from Texas Woman's University, Parsons School of Design, Chicago's Moody Institute, Cooper Union Continuing Education, Hunter College Continuing Education and other institutions. Merrily's tours have been featured in The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, Sydney Morning Herald and Philadelphia Magazine.
Merrily is licensed by New York City's Department of Consumer Affairs as a tour guide and is a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA USA)
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