| 吉莉安•韦英 (Gillian Wearing)
吉莉安•韦英1963年出生于英国伯明翰。1985-1987年，在伦敦切尔西艺术学校学习，1987-1990年，就读于哥德史密斯学院。1993年，获英国电信青年当代艺术奖；1997年，获特纳奖；2005年，获阿尔勒国际艺术节的发展奖。如今在伦敦生活和创作。
韦英的作品展示的是对日常生活中那些交互更迭着的悲喜经历的多元理解。她利用记录性摄影、电影和电视技术，通过对情景的微妙处理，来构建普通老百姓在日常生活中的忧虑、言语和行为。这种使观众置身于经过微妙处理后的情景中的作品，使观众感觉到不安：面对韦英的作品，我们不得不对自己固有的一些偏见提出质疑。
她对个人与集体概念也很有兴趣。在录像作品《60分钟的沉默》[Sixty Minute Silence，1996]里，26个警官为她摆好了一个姿势并保持一个小时。乍一看，这个作品像一张普通的正式集体合影，但走近一些，仔细观察，你会发现其中有着微微的动弹。警官们试图保持静止不动，但身体的紧张与疲劳，会在这一个小时中，随着时间的慢慢增加而渐渐增强。虽然警官们穿的是制服——他们地位的象征，但一个小时内他们都必须保持这种被约束的姿势。事实上，韦英通过暂时的约束，把警官置身在一中不舒服的状态中，赋予观众成为一个偷窥者的机会，从而实现了角色的反串。
韦英对社会中的个体始终很关注。这一点体现在她的作品《能说出你真实想法的标语，而不是让你言不由衷的标语》[Signs that Say What You Want Them To Say and Not Signs that Say What Someone Else Wants You To Say，1992-1993]中，创作这一系列作品时，韦英随机选择过往的行人，问他们是否愿意在纸上写下他们的想法并举起这张纸让她拍下来。与记录性的摄影新闻工作相反，她这么做是试图让这些参与者积极地参与进来，向社会陈规和假态提出挑战。系列作品之一，《世界上的一切都是有联系的，关键是你要意识到它并且理解它》[Everything is connected in life the point is you know it and understand it]，展示的是一位年轻人以一种非常友善的态度，和观众分享他对存在的理解。通过这样的作品，韦英在为社会中的个体提供一个表达自己观点的平台，该作品也证实了她个人对社会归属问题的关注。
韦英的首次个展是1993年在伦敦竞赛城画廊举办的。其他精选个展有：苏黎世美术馆，1997年；Serpentine画廊，伦敦，2000年；Fundacion la Caixa基金会，马德里，2001年；慕尼黑艺术协会，2001年；巴黎市立现代美术馆，2001年；法兰斯哈尔司博物馆，荷兰哈勒姆，2004年；克雅斯玛当代艺术博物馆，芬兰赫尔辛基，2004年；Bloomberg Space空间，伦敦，2005年；澳大利亚当代艺术中心，2006年。
与歌德史密斯学院的其他同学们一样，韦英的作品参加过很多重要的群展，包括：“’精彩！’来自伦敦的新艺术”，明尼阿波利斯和休斯顿，1995-1996年；“满堂红：英国青年艺术”，沃尔夫斯堡现代美术馆，以及Van Abbemuseum博物馆，艾恩德霍芬，1996年；“感觉：萨奇收藏的英国青年艺术家作品”，伦敦、柏林和纽约，1997-1999年。
Gillian Wearing
Gillian Wearing was born in Birmingham, England in 1963. She studied at Chelsea School of Art, London, 1985-7 and at Goldsmiths College, London, 1987-90. She won the BT Young Contemporaries Prize in 1993, the Turner Prize in 1997 and the Outreach Award at the Rencontres d’Arles Festival in 2005. Wearing lives and works in London.
Wearing’s work demonstrates a complex understanding of the alternately comic and tragic experiences of everyday life. She uses the techniques of documentary photography, film and television to frame the concerns, words and actions of ordinary people, often in everyday situations slightly and often subtly displaced in context. This repositioning creates an uneasy sense in the viewer - it forces us to question our preconceptions in face of the image Wearing presents to us.
She also has an interest in the idea of individualism and grouping. In her work 60 Minute Silence (1996), 26 police officers were asked to pose for her for the duration of one hour. At first glace, the work looks like a formal group portrait photograph, then as you look closely you start to perceive slight movement within the frame. The tension and restlessness builds up over an hour as the officers attempt to remain still. Although the police officers are on display in their uniform, a symbol of their position, they remain captives within the frame for the duration of an hour, in effect Wearing has reversed roles by putting them in an uncomfortable situation through their temporary restraint, and empowering the spectators in the process as voyeurs.
Her ongoing concern with individualism within society is also present in Signs that say what you want them to say and not Signs that say what someone else wants you to say (1992-3). In this series, the artist asked random passers-by if they would agree to note down their thoughts on a piece of paper and to be photographed holding these. Contrary to social documentary photojournalism the artist attempts to actively involve her protagonists in order to challenge social stereotypes and assumptions. In one work of the series, Everything is connected in life the point is you know it and understand it, a young man shares his existentialist thoughts with the viewer in a very disarming manner. Here Wearing gives an individual a platform for self-expression, and the result underlines her personal interest in social belonging.
Wearing’s first solo exhibition was held at City Racing, London, 1993. Other selected solo exhibitions include: Kunsthaus Zurich, 1997; Serpentine Gallery, London, 2000; Fundación la Caixa, Madrid, 2001; Kunstverein Munchen, 2001; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 2001; Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, 2004; Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, 2004; Bloomberg Space, London, 2005; Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, 2006.
Along with other Goldsmiths peers, her work was included “ ‘Brilliant!’ New Art from London”, Minneapolis and Houston, 1995-6; “Full House: Young British Art, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, and Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, 1996, and “Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi collection”, London, Berlin and subsequently New York, 1997-9. |
