Tyler Mitchell: Wish This Was Real

Curators: Brendan Embser, Sophia Greiff

Tyler Mitchell is inspired by visions of paradise set against the backdrop of history. His work weaves a visual narrative of beauty, style, utopia, and landscape, expanding understandings of Black life and demonstrating how portraiture can be grounded in the past while imagining future possibilities. “Wish This Was Real” surveys ten years of Mitchell’s photography, video, and sculpture, reflecting the impact of the “New Black Vanguard” – a generation of Black photographers working across fashion and art. From portraits made in the United States, Europe, and West Africa to his latest prints on fabric and mirrors, Mitchell explores photography’s role in creating a visual world where refuge and repose are central.

The exhibition is organised into three thematic sections tracing Mitchell’s artistic development. In “Lives/Liberties”, his early influences and engagement with skateboarding culture appear in images that celebrate leisure, community, and self-expression amid societal unrest, including the 2015 video “Wish This Was Real”, a haunting reflection on innocence and political tension in contemporary America. “Postcolonial/Pastoral” explores paradisiacal visions alongside historical and social complexity, with elaborately staged scenes in nature that invite reflection through vibrant landscapes and symbolic motifs. “Family/Fraternity” honours the resilience and heritage of Black communities through intimate family portraits and still lifes, presenting the home as a sanctuary.

Tyler Mitchell “Wish This Was Real” is curated by Brendan Embser and Sophia Greiff, in collaboration with Clothilde Morette, curator and artistic director of the MEP. Organised and produced by the C/O Berlin Foundation with Tyler Mitchell Studios, the exhibition is made possible through the support of the Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne.