Portraits - Gillian Wearing

Gillian Wearing is an English conceptual artist who does lots of portrait work of which I find very interesting. There is a exhibition that she did called "Signs that say what you want them to say and not signs that say what someone else wants you to say". This exhibition is a collection of photographs of different strangers holding up signs that say things that they feel are true to them.

Gillian Wearing OBE

 "Everything is connected in life"

1992-3

Above is one of the photos from Wearing's exhibition. What I like in particular about this picture is the message on the paper, it is simple yet affective much like the picture itself. There are a lot of dark colours and the contrast is quite high, the reason of this could may have been so that the viewer is drawn more towards the message on the paper as there is a white on top of black, thus making the piece of paper stand out more. I like how the man in the picture is smiling too, I think it shows that he is confident, happy and stands by what he is saying in his message.

Gillian Wearing OBE

"I have been certified as mildly insane!"

1992-3

This is another photo from Wearing's exhibition, this is one of my favourite's from the collection; the fact that the man has stated that he is mildly insane adds an element of fear I think to the picture. It makes me wonder how Wearing managed to get the man to follow instructions to get him to stand and pose for the picture when there is always a chance that the man could cause her harm as he is not mentally stable. There is also the fact that he has a tattoo of what could be a gang symbol on his face which is also quite alarming. Another thing to take into consideration is the location in which the man is in; it seems as though he is standing in a public place, perhaps a train station or a shopping mall which again, adds to the fear element of the picture as he is a dangerous individual who is in public place and could potentially cause harm on others around him.


Source: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/wearing-i-have-been-certified-as-mildly-insane-p78352