El IVAM recoge en una exposición individual la producción de la británica durante los últimos quince años.
La última vez que nuestro país acogió una muestra individual de Gillian Wearing (Birmingham, 1963) fue en 2001. Demasiado tiempo, quizás, sin poder disfrutar del impecable trabajo del artista británica. Por suerte, el IVAM (Institut Valencià d’Art Modern) ha querido poner remedio a esta situación celebrando una exposición individual que recoge gran parte del trabajo que la ganadora del premio Turner 1997 ha desarrollado en estos últimos quince años.
En total, en la galería 1 del IVAM se expondrán 8 videoinstalaciones de gran formato, una escultura (una obra rara en la producción de Wearing) y 11 fotografías. Trabajos como Bully (2010), que recrea la experiencia de acoso sufrida por un hombre, o la más reciente Fear and Loathing (2014) estarán presentes en la muestra, junto con otros anteriores como la videoinstalación Secrets and Lies (2009) en la que un conjunto de hombres y mujeres, con disfraces y máscaras, describen de forma anónima experiencias personales delicadas.
Todos estos trabajos mantienen la impronta personal de Wearing, una artista que aborda temas como la violencia, la incomunicación o los traumas siempre desde el punto de vista de lo cotidiano. La construcción de la identidad personal y el papel de la herencia familiar sobre la propia imagen también son una constante en su obra.
La exposición, que se podrá visitar hasta el 24 de enero de 2016, está comisariada por la profesora y crítica de arte británica Sacha Craddock y cuenta con el apoyo del British Council en España y de las Galerías Maureen Paley de Londres, Regen Projects de Los Ángeles y Tanya Bonakdar de Nueva York.
Gillian Wearing’s first solo exhibition in Spain since 2001 will be opened at the Institut Valencia d’Art Modern (IVAM) on 24 September. 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 and 11 photographs will be exhibited at Gallery 1 of the IVAM. 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 leaves 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 (2003) or more recently in her video installation We are Here (2014).
She has also been interested from the very beginning in the role of family inheritance in one’s image and the links that transcend genetics. Using an almost mimetic reproduction of old photographs, the artist recreates herself as her brother, her father, her mother and even a version of herself when she was 17 years old. These self-dramatisation exercises allow the photographer to play with the idea that time and generations merge into each other, and that closeness and distance are blurred.
To develop these portraits, Wearing takes special care of both the setting and the clothing, and makes silicone masks with the faces, to reproduce the exact features of her family members. In this way, when one looks at the photographs, only the eyes are real. They are like two windows surrounded by artifice looking back at viewers.
Curated by British art critic and Professor Sacha Craddock, the exhibition is sponsored by the British Council in Spain. Thanks to Maureen Paley, London, Regen Projects, Los Angeles, and Tanya Bonakdar, New York for their kind support.
