Gillian Wearing

the long version

The most comprehensive book on the British artist's frank, affecting work. British artist Gillian Wearing, winner of the 1997 Turner Prize, uses photography and video to produce an honest portrait of the complexities of contemporary life. Borrowing from popular culture, her work is both disturbing and confessional. In 1993 she began the acclaimed series 'Signs that say what you want them to say and not Signs that say what someone else wants them to say', in which random passers-by are photographed holding messages of their own choosing, such as the mild-mannered young businessman whose sign unexpectedly reads 'I'm Desperate'. With exhibitions in Britain, Europe, the US and Japan, Wearing is among the best-known and most international of the most recent generation of British artists. This is the first publication to examine all of this remarkable young artist's work.