Tyler Mitchell

EXHIBITIONS
BOOKS

Wish This Was Real

International Travelling Exhibition

Wish This Was Real opened at C/O Berlin in 2024 before traveling to the Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki; Photo Élysée, Lausanne, Switzerland; and Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris (2024–26). The exhibition offers new perspectives on Mitchell's long-standing themes of self-determination and the extraordinary radiance of the everyday, and showing how portraiture can be rooted in the past while evoking imagined futures.

The exhibition covers nearly ten years of his dynamic artistic practice in photography and video, demonstrating the influence of the “New Black Vanguard,” which American writer Antwaun Sargent describes as the proliferation of images by Black photographers who work between the genres of art and fashion. Considered in three thematic sections that follow different motifs, and featuring his newest works printed on fabric and mirrors, the exhibition encapsulates Mitchell’s diverse explorations of portraiture, nature, and social memory.

Avedon & Me

Paris Photo

A presentation at Paris Photo 2024 curated by Tyler Mitchell, 'Avedon & Me' places Mitchell’s work in dynamic conversation with iconic photographs by Richard Avedon (1923–2004). In his curatorial debut, Mitchell, a leading voice in contemporary photography, brings his unique vision to this exchange. The presentation is centered on Avedon’s works from the 1960s alongside a selection of Mitchell’s photographs from the past six years, including some not previously exhibited.

Frieze Masters Commission

Frieze, London

Tyler Mitchell presented a special project at Frieze Masters 2022, marking the first time Frieze has commissioned contemporary artwork to be featured in the fair. In photographs, works on fabric and mirror, and a new installation—Altar I (2022)—Mitchell reflects on historical motifs in the context of an Edenic vision of Black beauty and desire. Mitchell’s photos, shot on location in upstate New York and in studios in New York and London, explore the relationship between young Black men and landscape.

Chrysalis

Gagosian, London

For his first solo exhibition in London, Mitchell produced photographs of youthful subjects in nature. Shot on location in upstate New York and in studios in New York and London in 2022, the images allude to the contemporary landscape while reflecting on the history of photographic images of Black people, particularly in the American South. Playfully theatrical and surreal, the works focus on Black figures and the landscapes they inhabit, incorporating visual signifiers of spirituality, transformation, and aspiration.

'I Can Make You Feel Good'

Foam, Amsterdam

From April 19th to June 5th 2019, Mitchell presented his first solo exhibition ‘I Can Make You Feel Good’ at Foam Museum in Amsterdam. The collection of images exhibited were a mixture of both personal and commissioned work, which came together to portray Mitchell’s vision of a ‘Black Utopia’. His brightly coloured portraits capture young black people being intimate, expressive, sensual and free – a direct contrast to historically repressive depictions of black culture. The exhibition also premiered two of Mitchell’s video works, ‘Idyllic Space’ and ‘Chasing Pink, Found Red’.

Further PR information:
FOAM
On Feeling Good
WePresent: Tyler Mitchell

Boys of Walthamstow, 2018

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'I Can Make You Feel Good'

ICP, New York

After the success of Tyler’s first solo show in 2019 at Foam Fotografiemuseum in Amsterdam, it toured to the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York from January 2020 to May 2020, and was later extended to January 2021. The presentation was developed to include new work across different mediums in order to further enhance the immersive experience.

'Wish This Was Real'

APERTURE 2025

'Wish This Was Real', serves as a definitive early-career survey of Tyler’s work, offering a deep look at his evolving practice across photography, video, and sculpture. This book was published on the occasion of Tyler Mitchell: Wish This Was Real, an exhibition that opened at C/O Berlin in 2024 before traveling to the Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki; Photo Élysée, Lausanne, Switzerland; Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris; and Foto Arsenal Wien, Vienna (2024–26).

'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style'

MET CATALOGUE 2025

Tyler Mitchell was commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, to document the Costume Institute’s exhibition Superfine: Tailoring Black Style—which presents a cultural and historical examination of Black style over three hundred years through the lens of dandyism—for the accompanying catalogue. In addition to picturing the garments in static shots, Mitchell created a thirty-page photo essay showing several generations of Black men donning the garments and accessories as they were worn throughout history. The book also includes his photograph Untitled (Christian in Wales Bonner) (2024) on its cover and his short essay “Portrait of the Modern Dandy.”

'I Can Make You Feel Good'

PRESTEL 2020

Renowned art book publishers Prestel published an eponymous 206-page monograph in conjunction with the show at ICP with contributions from Hans Ulrich Obrist, Deborah Willis and other celebrated figures in the art world. The book is now in its second printing.