German Photo Provocateur Juergen Teller Invades ICA
Whether presenting portraits of icons ranging from Kurt Cobain to Vivienne Westwood or creating more personal, intimate images, Germany's Juergen Teller has always taken delight in assaulting the boundaries not only between photographer and subject but between photograph and viewer. There's a raw intensity to much of his work, an obsession with candor that can sometimes seem to verge almost on the pathological, while at other times Teller turns playful and slyly self-deprecating.
All these sides of the famed photographer's artistic personality will come into focus when a broad spectrum of his work is shown as part of Woo at London's Institute of Contemporary Art from January 23 to March 17. Visitors will be able to absorb everything from Teller's unconventional celebrity shots to works like Irene im Wald that capture a bit more of the artist's inner life. The scope of Woo will also encompass a number of Teller's books as well as some of his work from the advertising world. It all comes together in a tribute to a man who has been busily redefining the role of photographer for two decades.
