Gillian Wearing

A feminist agenda sometimes. Revealing random peoples hopes and fears at others. Very interesting female artist who challenges our culture and perceptions at every opportunity.

These are from a series of photographs where Wearing went out on the streets and found people at random and got them to write something personal on the paper and then took portraits of them. 1963

Wearing often dresses up or wears masks and face hair to change her appearance; a comment on our looks obsessed society where we all eventually end up wearing a mask.

This series of 'Pin-up's' is very interesting. A serious comment on the society we live in today. Here is what Wearing wrote about the piece in Artforum;

"THE INSPIRATION FOR my latest project came from a statistic released in the UK last year that said that two-thirds of young females would like a career in glamour modeling. I thought that this sounded unrealistic; one of the catalysts for this increase is a model called Jordan who has become a multimillionaire for selling her image (and also for being very frank about her life). This must seem to many people a quick way to get rich. It got me thinking about the reality and fantasy of being a pinup.
I advertised in newspapers and on the Internet for people who would like to be transformed into a pinup or glamour model. I received hundreds of replies, and by looking at the images I selected around thirty to audition. The audition had a twofold reason: to explain the project and to see how genuine the models’ interest was. I only wanted people who were enthusiastic, who had real aspirations.
I wanted the images to reflect a more Hollywood type of glamour as opposed to a “Page Three” style (as in the UK tabloid The Sun). Perhaps this was because I was also thinking of Regen Projects and about having the exhibition in Los Angeles. I took pictures of the models and then Photoshopped them, but I wanted the final product to be a painting, because with painting there is a seductiveness that enhances the transformations of the models; it looks less manufactured than an overworked photograph. Painting isn’t simply a substitute for Photoshop; in the process of Photoshopping an image, it can become quite dead, and painting, through its physical processes, brings the image back to life."