Biography

Gillian Wearing was born in Birmingham. She studied at Chelsea School of Art and Design and Goldsmiths College, London. In 1992 the artist began a series of works in which she approached people in the street, gave them a sheet of paper, asked them to write something on it, and then photographed the individuals holding the message. The photographs probed the gap between a person’s appearance and what they might be thinking, and also what we might think of them. Wearing has made a number of videos based on the theme of confession, taking inspiration from fly-on-the-wall documentaries. In 1997 she won the Turner Prize.