GILLIAN WEARING

Gillian Wearing is an English conceptual artist who explores the 'performance' of identity when in public and private spaces.

She has worked with photography, film, painting and sculpture.

For this research, I looked at her exhibition in the Guggenheim museum in New York, which was called Gillian Wearing: Wearing Masks. This exhibition included lots of her works, including some of her really early photographs, as well as some "lockdown portraits" that were done with paint.

"Signs that say what you want them to say and not Signs that say what someone else wants you to say" is one of the series in the exhibition. It is a series of portraits that take away her power as the photographer, as the subject writes their inner thoughts and holds it up in their photograph. This relates to the 'conceal and reveal' topic as the subject has the agency to write whatever they want, concealing or revealing their truth and thoughts.

Her work explores the 'masks' people put on in different spaces, as different roles. It also explores people's expressions of themselves, and the authenticity of how poeple choose to present to others in different situations.