Liam Gillick (born 1964) is an British 'artist' associated with the Young British Artists (YBAs). He was nominated for the Turner Prize. He works in various media, including video, computer animation and installation. He is, above all, a media savvy charlatan.
Life and work
Liam Gillick was born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. He studied at Hertfordshire College of Art and Goldsmiths College (1984–7).
From 1997 he has taught at Columbia University.
In May 2000 he was guest professor at the Research Programme, CCA in Kitakyushi, Japan. During that time he created an installation in the studio communal area. This consisted of benches, low tables, bookshelves and Japanese lanterns. Following this, he was commissioned to make work for a new sculpture court outside the Clore Gallery at Tate Britain. This again was an installation including benches, tables, shelving units and lighting. The work was described as an amalgam of sculpture, design and architecture.[1]
He "appropriates the forms of corporate office architecture" and "investigates the semiotics of architecture in fictional yet non-narrative essays and books, installations, and objects" with references to earlier movements such as De Stijl in Holland and the geometrical forms of Piet Mondrian's paintings. An example of this is a piece in the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Local Discussion Screen (2001-02). This measures 96 x 144 x 12" (243.8 x 365.8 x 30.5 cm.). It is made from aluminum and red plexiglas. At a cursory inspection, it would appear to be an office screen or part of a commercial exhibition stand, and can only be understood in its intended (i.e. gallery) context, and on the basis that "It is difficult to separate Gillick’s artworks from his complex and on-going intellectual discourse about the interaction of social, moral, political, and ideological forces in the environment.[2]
In May 2002, he had his first major solo show in London, The Wood Way, at the Whitechapel Art Gallery. This featured work made since the mid-1990s and in particular two series, The What if? Scenario and Discussion Island/Big Conference Centre... The title of the show refers to the German expression "Holzweg"— taking the "wood way" means taking the wrong turning and getting lost in the woods. The ground floor of the Whitechapel contained a specially constructed labyrinth by Gillick, so "Walking through the exhibition may well feel like taking "The Wood Way" both literally and metaphorically."[3]
In 2002 he was a nominee for the Turner Prize. His display was a mostly empty environment, dominated by a ceiling of brightly-coloured plexiglass squares with light shining through them.
In 2003 he received a joint commission from London Underground Platform for Art programme and Frieze Art Fair to create a set of posters to be put in unused spaces at Great Portland Street tube station. These have strong single colours and text in simple typography, and were promoted by London Underground:
- The work makes use of transcripts of non-specific television advertising – placing the structure of one communication medium into another. The structure of the message overwhelms the product and we are left to reflect on the potential of narrative and presentation.[4]
Other projects he has undertaken include several books, and collaborations with architectural schemes, including the new airport terminal in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and an extension to Cambridge City Library, Harvard Square, Massachusetts.[4]
He lives and works in London and New York and has recently bought himself an exclusive residence on Martha's Vineyard, living the socialist dream of dislocation from the rotten hoi polloi.
Shows
Group exhibitions include Documenta X, Kassel (1997), and Intelligence: New British Art 2000 (Tate Triennial), Tate Britain (2000).
Solo shows include Hamburg Kunstverein (1998) and the Arnolfini, Bristol (2000).
See also
References
- ^ Absolute arts Retrieved March 23, 2006
- ^ Abright-Knox Art Gallery Retrieved March 23, 2006
- ^ Whitechapel Art Gallery Retrieved March 23, 2006
- ^ a b "headache/phone card/soda/donuts/stereo" tfl.gov.uk. Accessed April 16, 2006