Group exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, New York
2017
March 19–July 30
The photograph Sendeschluss / End of Broadcast I (2014) by Wolfgang Tillmans was included in the group exhibition Unfinished Conversations: New Work from the Collectionat The Museum of Modern Art in New York. The exhibition presented works made by 15 artists during the last decade which had recently entered the museum's collection.
Sendeschluss / End of Broadcast I was first presented as part of the 10th edition of Manifesta, the European Biennial of Contemporary Art, which was held in St. Petersburg in 2014. The artist explains the context for Sendeschluss / End of Broadcast I in a feature published ini-D Magazine: "I had to find a way to make a comment. I included [in Manifesta 10] two photographs of ugly new Orthodox churches, built by the government. I also photographed television static in my Saint Petersburg hotel room as a symbol of censorship and of potential loss of connection. These became two huge pictures in the show."
As expressed in the exhibition text, Unfinished Conversations considered the intertwining themes of social protest, the effect of history on the formation of identity, and how fact and fiction can be juxtaposed in art. The title is inspired by John Akomfrah's three-channel video installation The Unfinished Conversation (2012), which is included in the exhibition.