Wolfgang Tillmans wins 2015 Hasselblad Award
The Hasselblad Foundation is pleased to announce that German artist Wolfgang Tillmans is the recipient of the 2015 Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography for the sum of SEK 1,000,000 (approximately EUR 110,000). The award ceremony takes place in Gothenburg on November 30, 2015. On December 1 an exhibition of Tillmans’s work will open at the Hasselblad Center, Sweden. On the same day, the Hasselblad Foundation will host a symposium with the award winner, and a new book by Tillmans will be released.
The Foundation’s citation regarding the 2015 Award winner Wolfgang Tillmans: “Wolfgang Tillmans has established himself among the most original and innovative artists of his generation, constantly pushing the photographic medium in new directions. His practice has covered subjects of pressing political and social importance since the 1990s, reflecting both directly and indirectly on the power of the photographic image to engage critically with the world around us. Furthermore, Tillmans has transformed the understanding of photographic exhibition making through his daring and original installations, playing with scale, formats, framing and presentation to produce immersive experiences that have inspired subsequent generations of artists.”
This year’s award committee, which submitted its proposal to the Foundation’s board of directors, consisted of:
Simon Baker, chair, Curator of Photography, Tate Modern, London
Irina Chmyreva, Senior Curator, Project in Support for Photography in Russia, IRIS Foundation, Moscow
Katerina Gregos, independent curator and Artistic Director, Art Brussels, Brussels
Roberto Koch, Publisher, Contrasto Books, Rome and Milan
Roxana Marcoci, Senior Curator of Photography, the Museum of Modern Art, New York
The Hasselblad Award winners of the past five years are:
2014: Ishiuchi Miyako, Japan
2013: Joan Fontcuberta, Spain
2012: Paul Graham, Great Britain / USA
2011: Walid Raad, Lebanon / USA
2010: Sophie Calle, France
The Hasselblad Foundation was established in 1979 under the terms of the last will and testament of Dr. Victor Hasselblad and his wife Erna. The purpose of the Foundation is to promote scientific education and research in photography and the natural sciences. The Foundation’s annual international award for outstanding achievement in photography, awarded in 2015 to Wolfgang Tillmans, is considered the most important photography prize worldwide.
The Foundation holds a collection of photographic art focusing on the Hasselblad Award winners and Nordic photographers. In the Hasselblad Center, situated in the Gothenburg Museum of Art, three to four exhibitions are presented annually, one of which displays works by the current year’s Hasselblad Award winner. Further
stipends for studies and residencies are awarded each year, and the foundation itself is actively engaged in the field of academic and artistic research through the publication of books, organization of seminars, and other public events.
Gothenburg, March 6, 2015
Hasselblad Foundation
Ekmansgatan 8
SE41256 Gothenburg
Sweden
For further information, and for press material:
Jenny Blixt, T +46 (0) 317782154 / jenny.blixt [at] hasselbladfoundation.org
