Liam Gillick

born Aylesbury (UK) 1964

Gillick was born in Aylesbury, England, in 1964 and graduated with a BA in Fine Art from Goldsmiths College, University of London, in 1987. His art is underpinned by rigorous theorising: he is as much a writer as a maker of objects. However, Gillick's work is shaped by a very visual awareness of the way different properties of materials, structures and colour can affect our surroundings and therefore influence the way we behave.

In May 2000 he was guest professor at the Research Programme, CCA in Kitakyushu, 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.

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 acrylic glass. 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.

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."

In 2002 he was a nominee for the Turner Prize. His display was a mostly empty environment, dominated by a ceiling of brightly-coloured acrylic glass 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.

A further project for London Undergorund, announced in January 2007, was the design of the cover for the Underground map, of which 15 million copies are distributed every year. His design, entitled The Day Before (You Know What They'll Call It? They'll Call it the Tube) shows the words of the date of the last day before the Underground opened, written in twelve sets of coloured letters symbolising the twelve rail lines.

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.

He divides his time between London and New York City.

Select Timeline

Select Exhibitions

• 1991 - Documents, (with Henry Bond), Gio' Marconi, Milan
• 1994 - McNamara, Schipper & Krome, Cologne
• 1996 - Co-operators, Southampton City Art Gallery, Southampton
• 1996 - Erasmus is Late 'versus' The What If? Scenario, Schipper & Krome, Berlin
• 1997 - Discussion Island, Basilico Fine Arts, New York
• 1997 - Life/ live, Centro Cultural de Belem, Lisbon
• 1998 - Fast Forward, Kunstverein in Hamburg, Hamburg
• 1998 - Liam Gillick, John Miller, Joe Scanlan, Raum Aktueller Kunst, Vienna
• 1998 - Liam Gillick, Kunstverein in Hamburg, Hamburg
• 1999 - Liam Gillick, Kunsthaus Glarus, Glarus
• 1999 - Playtimes, Centre National d' Art Contemporain de Grenoble, Grenoble
• 1999 - Oldnewtown, Casey Kaplan, New York
• 2000 - Continuum 001, CCA, Glasgow
• 2000 - Stortorget i Kalmar, Stadens Konstrads Galleri, Kalmar
• 2000 - Liam Gillick, Galleri Charlotte Lund, Stockholm
• 2000 - Liamm Gilllick. Themagazineofthe4thofMarch, Galerie Schipper & Krome, Berlin
• 2001 - Firststepcousinbarprize, Galerie Hauser & Wirth & Presenhuber, Zurich
• 2001 - Liam Gillick, Galeria Javier Lopez, Madrid
• 2001 - Century City, Tate Modern, London
• 2001 - Demonstration Room: Ideal House, Apex Art, New York
• 2002 - Urgent Painting, ARC Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris
• 2002 - Passenger: The Viewer as Participant, Astrup Fearnley Museum, Oslo
• 2002 - The Wood Way, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
• 2002 - Light Technique, Galerie Meyer Kainer, Vienna
• 2003 - Hills and trays and, Schipper & Krome, Berlin
• 2003 - punctuated everydays, Galerie Max Hetzler, Holzmarktstrasse, Berlin
• 2003 - Perfect Timeless Repitition, c/o Atle Gerhardsen, Berlin
• 2003 - Re-Produktion 2, Georg Kargl, Vienna
• 2003 - Breathing the Water, Galerie Hauser & Wirth & Presenhuber, Zurich
• 2004 - Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated): Art from 1951 to the Present, Guggenheim Museum, New York
• 2004 - Specific Objects, Galerie Mehdi Chouakri, Berlin
• 2004 - Before the end (cur. by Stephane Moisdon Trembley), Le Consortium, Dijon
• 2004 - Construccion de Uno, Galeria Javier Lopez, Madrid
• 2004 - A Group of People, Air de Paris, Paris
• 2004 - Liam Gillick: Nineteenfortysixxisytrofneetenin, Aspen Art Museum, Aspen
• 2004 - Underground (Fragments of Future Histories), Galerie Micheline Szwajcer, Antwerp
• 2004 - (Rider): Law & Creativity (w/ Philippe Parreno), Lunds Konsthall, Lund
• 2005 - Briannnnn & Ferryyyyy (w/ Philippe Parreno), Vamiali's, Athens
• 2005 - Texte court sur la possibilite de creer une economie de l'equivalence, La Casa Encendida, Madrid
• 2005 - As you approach the edge of town the lights are no softer than they were in the centre, Casey Kaplan Gallery, New York
• 2005 - Fabriken im Schnee, Galerie Meyer Kainer, Vienna
• 2005 - M/M (Paris), Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt
• 2005 - The Two Hundred and Twenty-Second Floor, Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich
• 2005 - Texte court sur la possibilite de creer une economie de l'equivalence, Palais de Tokyo, Paris
• 2005 - McNamara Motel, CAC Centro de Arte Contemporaneo, Malaga
• 2005 - Presentism, Corvi-Mora, London
• 2005 - Ovningskorning (Driving Practice Parts 1-30), Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee
• 2005 - Another 2004 Again, Baltimore Museum Of Art, Baltimore
• 2005 - Reception, Buro Friedrich, Berlin
• 2005 - Passion Beyond Reason, Wallstreet One Gallery, Berlin
• 2005 - Thank You for the Music, Spruth Magers, Munich
• 2005 - Nur Hier? Teil III - Im Bild Sein, Hochschule fur Grafik und Buchkunst, Leipzig
• 2005 - Bidibidobidiboo, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Guarene/Turin
• 2006 - Classical: Modern I, DaimlerChrysler Contemporary, Berlin
• 2006 - Intouchable: L'Ideal Transparence, Villa Arson, Nice
• 2006 - Undisciplined: 3rd Biennale of Ceramics in Contemporary Art, Albisola
• 2006 - Abstract Art Now: Strictly Geometrical, Wilhelm Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen
• 2006 - Broken Surface: ein Editionsprojekt, Galerie Sabine Knust, Munich
• 2006 - Eine Person Allein In Einem Raum Mit Coca-Cola-Farbenen Wanden, Grazer Kunstverein, Graz
• 2006 - Kristallisationen: 10 Kunstler fur Theresienthal, Andreas Murkudis Temporary, Munich
• 2006 - Projekt Projektion, Kunstmuseum Luzern, Luzern
• 2006 - Grey Flags, The Sculpture Center, New York
• 2006 - Ordnung und Verfuhrung, Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich
• 2006 - Tate Triennial, Tate Britain, London
• 2006 - L'Exposition Qui N'Existe Pas, MAMCO, Geneva
• 2006 - Minimalism and After IV: Neuerwerbungen, DaimlerChrysler Contemporary, Berlin
• 2006 - The Party, Casey Kaplan, New York
• 2006 - Supernova, Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius
• 2006 - Galleri MGM, Oslo
• 2006 - Briannnnn & Ferryyyyy (w/ Philippe Parreno), Kunsthalle Zurich, Zurich
• 2006 - Edgar Schmitz, ICA, London
• 2006 - We Are Medi(eval) (w/ Angela Bulloch), Cubitt Artists, London

Select Artwork

• Filtration, 2001
• The Local Area Produces Lightbulbs, 2003
• Tunnel, 2004
• Prototype Structure For A Social Centre, 2006
• Weekday in Sochaux, 2005
• Plan for a new town where three countries converge, 2004
• Cubed Revision Screen, 2005
• Workers and Farmers, 2004
• Mirrored Reconciliation Screen, 2004

Quotes

Publications

• The Air is Blue - by Liam Gillick, Rem Koolhaas, Pedro Reyes, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Trilce Ediciones (March 1, 2007)
• Anri Sala (Contemporary Artists.) - by Mark Godfrey, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Liam Gillick, Phaidon Press; Mul edition (November 14, 2006)
• Liam Gillick: Selected Essays, 1988-2004 - by Liam Gillick, Lionel Bovier, Jrp/Ringier (May 30, 2007)
• Liam Gillick: Factories in the Snow - by Liam Gillick, Lilian Haberer, Jrp/Ringier (April 30, 2007)
• Erasmus Is Late - by Liam Gillick, Jane Rolo, Gillian Gillick, Book Works (July 1995)
• Liam Gillick / Lawrence Weiner (Between Artists) - by Liam Gillick, Lawrence Weiner, Alejandro Cesarco, A.R.T. PRESS (May 30, 2006)
• five or six - by Liam Gillick, Nicolaus/Schneider, Caroline Schafhausen, Lukas & Sternberg (1999)
• Liam Gillick - by Liam Gillick, Catson Roberts, Lucy Steeds, Arnolfini Gallery Ltd (April 8, 2001)

Quick Facts

• He was a nominee for the Turner Prize in 2002.
• Gillick is an English artist associated with the Young British Artists (YBAs).
• He works in various media, including video, computer animation and installation.

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