The workshops are led by experienced drama teacher sam. From one of her early projects, a series of 600odd photographs called signs that say what you want them to say and not signs that say what someone else wants you to say, in which she asked members of the public to spill their innermost secrets on cardboard signs, to her most recent piece. Successful applicants were cast, undertaking a method workshop and subsequently. Wearing, like cahun, conceives of gender as multivalent, jennifer blessing writes in an introduction to a portfolio of wearing s.
Gillian wearing cbe, ra born 1963 is an english conceptual artist, one of the young british artists, and winner of the 1997 turner prize. With her varied, oeuvrespanning show now open at tanya bonakdar gallery in chelsea, were drawn to her tribute selfportraits as idols andy. About gillian wearing themes of gillian wearing s work. So the artist made a feature film in which members of the public divulge their innermost secrets with shocking results. Renegotiating gender, generations apart aperture foundation ny. Since that golden era wearing has chosen to stay out of the spotlight, rather allowing her deeply reflective work to speak for itself. Call gillian 1994 or family history 2006 in engaging with the problems raised by mediated revelation the issue here is precisely whether we are dealing with revelation at all, or whether what we are witnessing is an effect of the filming process itself.
Gillian wearing me as eva hesse 2019 ctype print, framed 60 x 45 18 inches. If you were to play a part in a film, would you be yourself or a. Alternating between documentary and fiction, six members of the public ensnared by a newspaper ad work with method acting guru sam rumbelow to create and star in their own short films. William corwin sat down with wearing at her east london studio to quiz her about various projects in her past and present, particularly her 2010 feature. On the cover of apertures on feminism issue is a photograph by gillian wearing, who recreated a 1927 selfportrait by the french writer and artist claude cahun.
In 2007 wearing was elected as lifetime member of the royal academy of arts in london. Wearing, gillian, gillian wearing goes home, 26 november 2014, gillian wearing time travels for vincent award, 10 september 2014, exhibitions during frieze week, the new shows not to miss, time out london, 1420 october 2014, p. The film, an exploration of the blurring between reality and fiction, is being backed by the uk. Hundreds of people responded and seven people were selected to appear in self made, where they attend a method acting workshop to explore their fantasy selves. Jun 24, 2018 in 2007, gillian wearing placed an advert in local and national newspapers, online and in job centres around london and newcastle. Gillian wearing obe, the flamin supported artist filmmaker and winner of the 1997 turner prize, has made her first feature film, self made. Collection museum of contemporary art chicago, restricted gift of the collectors forum in memory of tom ruben, 2003. I was complaining the other day about looking in the mirror and seeing old berrymans. Self made is the debut documentary feature from turner prize winning artist gillian wearing. Wearing, who has exhibited extensively and is a recipient of britains prestigious turner prize, was no stranger to cahuns work when she made the trip to jerseyher 2012 self portrait, me as cahun holding a mask of my face, is a reconstruction of cahuns iconic self portrait, made in 1927.
On the cover of apertures on feminism issue is a photograph by gillian wearing, who recreated a 1927 self portrait by the french writer and artist claude cahun. Gillian wearing has long explored ideas around identity and the masks we wear. Ades, dawn, and sarah howgate, gillian wearing and claude cahun. That was when gillian wearing a few years before her 1997 turner prize award discovered cahuns photographs. In the late 1990s, wearing made a threechannel video called drunk 19971999, for which she filmed a group of street.
The film, which was partly shot in the capital, will be screening at selected cinemas in london and across the uk from friday 2 september. In her new series of large, eerie photographs, the londonbased, turner prizewinning gillian wearing continues to explore the shifty nature of selfhood that has made. See more ideas about how to wear, photography and portrait. Gillian wearing, whose name i did not know, is the first in newsweeks list the 10 most important artists of today a swift look at photographs of her work online suggest a woman interested in hidden layers of common human expression. Focusing upon gillian wearing s first feature film, self made 2010, this essay explores how the artistdirector captures up the paradoxes of actor and character. Gillian wearing is a contemporary british artist whose conceptually driven photographs and videos investigate power dynamics and voyeurism in everyday life. Underscoring itsuse of documentary conventions, the film includes a number of talking head sequences in which the. In 2007, gillian wearing placed an advert in newspapers, online, in job centres and elsewhere. A fascinating exploration of the relationship between reality and representation, performance. To view this video download flash player videos 360 view images self made dvd. Gillian wearing and claude cahun princeton university press. The many masks of gillian wearing and claude cahun blog.
As a female artist who also worked with her own image, wearing says she felt very close to the work when she saw it, and a decade later, took up where cahun left off, taking pictures of herself posing as members of her own family, constructing elaborate, naturalistic. The smiling women are shown standing in a row facing the camera in descending height order from left to right against a backdrop of flowers and trees suggestive of the garden referred to in. Self made can be described as a documentary about the method acting workshops undergone by the seven participants as training for their personal end films, five of which,straddling genres from theatre and television to more cinematic scenes, are included in the main film. In this case, it is the framework of method acting that enables participants to explore the innermost. It follows in the spirit of her previous works that ask the public to reveal aspects of their lives, which they might generally keep hidden, including signs 199293 and confess all on video 1994.
This riveting show presents her work alongside that of admirer gillian wearing. Artist filmmaker, gillian wearing presents self made. Jun 08, 2011 gillian wearings self portrait at 17yearsold just so youre not confused, gillian wearing was in her midtolate 30s when the shot above was taken. For this documentary artist gillian wearing brought together seven volunteers who, in workshops with a drama teacher, created fantasy identities for themselves through discussion and in short films. At the films start, a man strides across a street toward us, his countenance grim and his gait quick. Inspired by documentaries, reality television, and the artifice of theater, wearing describes her. Gillian wearing has made a successful career as an artist that spans decades from creating candid photos and videos that reveal the disconnect that exists in peoples personal and inner lives versus their public personas or what they show the rest of the world.
Gillian wearing deals regularly in the kind of intimacy that many among us share only with our dentists. Gillian wearings debut feature, self made, has just wrapped principal photography in newcastle. Of the hundreds of people who replied, seven chosen through an extended process of auditions, interviews and workshops ended up appearing in self made. A hybrid undertaking, self made is at once documentary, artwork. Self made is wearing s first venture into narrative film or pseudo documentary. Her statue of the suffragist millicent fawcett stands in londons parliament square. Oriana foxs the o show and gillian wearings selfmade. Gillian wearing biography gillian wearing on artnet. In the 1990s, she placed an advert in time out asking people to confess all on video. The first feature by british conceptual artist gillian wearing, self made is an experiment in creativity that has far more resonance for its participants than it will for most audiences. Gillian wearing with william corwin the brooklyn rail. Self made originally published in sight and sound an ordinary looking man in his thirties is walking towards the camera. Turner prizewinner gillian wearing produces candid videos and photographs revealing the disconnect between our inner lives and public personas, the individual and society, and truth and fiction.
Focused more on capturing the self awareness of her subjects than on issues of aesthetics, wearing employs prosthetic masks, voice dubbing, altered photographs, in her portraits of herself, individuals, and groups. Filmed on location in newcastle it follows adverts that ask the public. Lesley robinson, one of the subjects of gillian wearings documentary self made. Gillian wearing was 16 and just starting out in her first job when she realised shed spent most of her life not speaking. Her works also highlight the disconnect between individuals and their. Rereleased as a dvd by home artist film in may 2015. Gillian wearing, selfportrait as my mother, jean gregory, 2003. Gillian wearing artworks artists tanya bonakdar gallery. With sam rumbelow, asheq akhtar, lesley robinson, dave austin. Self portrait as my brother richard wearing framed ctype print 191 x. When meeting someone as shapeshifting as gillian wearing, the possibility of their image aligning with the mental one you have of them is rare. See more ideas about how to wear, photography and a level photography. Mar 12, 2017 the singular french artist claude cahun made a lifelong series of self portraits in various guises. The many selves of gillian wearing cindy sherman, cindy.
A hybrid undertaking, self made is at once documentary, artwork, social experiment and performance project bringing together a diverse group from the british public, nonactors every one, and offering them the. Much has been made of the way in which gillian wearing s work anticipated social media. About gillian wearing since the beginning of her career, gillian wearing has drawn from techniques of theatre, reality television, and flyonthewall documentarymaking to construct narratives that explore personal fantasies and confessions, individual traumas, cultural histories, and the role of the media. Gillian wearing s feature film self made is well named as its a study precisely of the making and unmaking of selves, a brutal and exhilarating endeavor that the british artist captures with aplomb at the films start, a man strides across a street toward us, his countenance grim and his gait quick. Nov 27, 2012 much has been made of the way in which gillian wearing s work anticipated social media. Gillian wearing s feature film self made is well named as its a study precisely of the making and unmaking of selves, a brutal and exhilarating endeavor that the british artist captures with aplomb. In this stillcontroversial and highly original video piece, wearing invites members of the public to confess something. Conceptual artist gillian wearing emerged in the 1990s as part of a bold generation of artists that helped define modern british art. Gillian wearing has a history of getting people on camera and making them open up.
Tuner prize winner gillian wearing is a master of disguise. Behind the mask, another mask sarah howgate this beautifully illustrated book draws together for the first time the self portraits of french surrealist artist claude cahun 18941954 and british contemporary artist gillian wearing. Gillian wearing, whose first film, self made, will be premiered at the london film festival. Call gillian 1994 this work is titled from the advertisement wearing placed in time out magazine to invite volunteers to participate using a similar method of consensual public participation as in signs. The camera tracks backward with him, moving through a narrow brick alleyway as the wind. Self made is the debut documentary feature from turner prize winning artist gillian wearing, who placed an advert asking the public. Declan tan finds the artist gillian wearing lives up to her surname in the fulllength film project self made. It is often surprising meeting people you are familiar with through images, both still and moving, as they never look quite as you imagine. Gillian wearings debut feature is self made news screen. Lesley robinson, one of the subjects of gillian wearing s documentary self made.
Gillian wearing s me in my mask into our discussion of authenticity comes an artist whose work addresses this head on. Turner prizewinning artist gillian wearing has worked in video art before, but with self made makes an intriguing feature debut with a film that. In 2007, gillian wearing placed an advert in local and national newspapers, online and in job centres around london and newcastle. Trailer for self made, the debut feature film by turnerprize winner gillian wearing. Wearing, who has exhibited extensively and is a recipient of britains prestigious turner prize, was no stranger to cahuns work when she made the trip to jerseyher 2012 selfportrait, me as cahun holding a mask of my face, is a reconstruction of cahuns iconic selfportrait, made in 1927.
A retrospective of gillian wearings work ran from march 28 june 17 at londons whitechapel gallery and following quickly on its heels will be an exhibition at k20 kunsthallsammlung nrw in dusseldorf september 8 january 6, 20. She won the turner prize in 1997 and, in the same year, her work was included in sensation at the royal academy of arts. If you were to play a part in a film, would you be yourself or a fictional character. Created by the british artist gillian wearing, the garden 1997 is a screenprint on white wove paper featuring a photograph of four women wearing only long white tshirts bearing different comic statements. Dec 11, 2007 gillian wearing studied at chelsea college of art 198587 and goldsmiths college 198790. We glimpse what this might mean in wearings self made, in which rumbelow, the films main protagonist, deploys method as a technique to. Gillian wearing makes the artfilm crossover with self made. Rediscovered in the 1990s, cahun was known for her gender bending, theatrical photography. In this article, i explore the trutheffects of the performative dimension of two artists works. Gillian wearing cbe, ra born 1963 is an english conceptual artist, one of the young british. Inspired by documentaries, reality television, and the artifice of theater, wearing describes her approach as editing life. She was working as an office junior for an insurance broker in birmingham. These are some of the questions posed by self made, an extraordinary debut feature by acclaimed british artist gillian wearing. This image of wearing as her mother gets at that sensation visually.
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