Gillian Wearing

01 sep. 2015

Gillian Wearing’s first solo exhibition in Spain since 2001 will be opened at the IVAM on September 24. Most of the works included have been created by the 1997 Turner Prize winner over the past 15 years. The British artist (Birmingham, 1963) will attend the opening in Valencia. Photographs like Rock “n” Roll 70 or the video installation entitled Your Views are the newest works that will be on show.

Eight large-format video installations, a sculpture (a rare piece in Wearing’s production) and 11 photographs will be exhibited at Gallery 1 of the Institut Valencia d’Art Modern. Works such as Bully (2010), which is a method acting class that re-enacts one man’s experience of being bullied, or the more recent Fear and Loathing (2014) will be present in the show together with previous pieces such as the video installation Secrets and Lies (2009) in which a group of men and women, anonymously describe intensely personal experiences wearing masks.

Gillian Wearing’s work has a strong personal and social imprint that provides it with a powerful discourse, that addresses highly topical issues such as violence, isolation and trauma from the point of view of everyday life.

She is interested in art as a way of making social relationships visible and in delving into the roles we play, the masks we use. A distinctive feature in her work is her ongoing concern with the construction of personal identity. This question can be seen in her series Family Album (2002) or more recently in her video installation We are Here (2014).

Curated by British art critic and professor Sacha Craddock, the exhibition is sponsored by the British Council in Spain. Gillian Wearing is represented by Maureen Paley, London, Regen Projects, Los Angeles, and Tanya Bonakdar, New York.

Gillian Wearing will be in Valencia the days before the exhibition opening. For an interview, please contact the Communication Department at the IVAM.