In 1988, Damien Hirst organised an exhibition in London’s Docklands for 16 of his fellow Goldsmith College students. Hirst described Freeze as “the kind of exhibition that everybody says they saw and hardly anybody did.” It was a landmark moment, ushering in a new generation of artists who pushed the boundaries of creativity. They were known as the Young British Artists and included practitioners like Angus Fairhurst, Gary Hume, Sarah Lucas and Tracey Emin. They went on to dominate the art world throughout the 1990s, with several members winning or nominated for the Turner Prize. Gillian Wearing and Michael Landy were at the centre of this zeitgeist. Landy (b. 1963) is best-known for the performance piece Break Down (2001), where he systematically destroyed all of his possessions. Meanwhile, Wearing (b. 1963) is recognised for Signs that say what you want them to say and not Signs that say what someone else wants you to say. The series is made up of street portraits where she approached strangers and asked then to write what they were thinking on a card. The two were part of famed exhibition Brilliant! (1995 – 1996) at Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, which brought the work of the YBAs to the USA. Fast forward thirty years and the pair are exhibiting together again at Thomas Dane Gallery, Naples. The show will present new work by the artists that responds to the city and its history, alongside a selection of works spanning the last three decades of the their careers. Titled Art Lovers, it reflects an exceptionally creative personal and artistic relationship.
A: You both have such expansive back catalogues of work, how did you decide which to highlight in this exhibition? Were there any particular considerations about balancing new works with older pieces?
GW: For me, it started with the signs series I did in Naples in 1994. I always wanted to exhibit them again in the city. So, when Thomas Dane came up with the idea of a joint exhibition with Michael, I knew that work would be pivotal. Staying in the artist residency meant we got to see the gallery a lot, and it helped with the planning.
ML: One of the first conversations I remember having in Naples was about San Gennaro, the patron saint. I had previously created kinetic saints for my exhibition Saints Alive at the National Gallery in 2013, where I brought saints to life based on those depicted in the gallery’s paintings. I have made a sculpture of San Gennaro from a painting by Girolamo Pesci that portrays him just after his decapitation. Over the past couple of years, Gillian and I have stayed at the gallery’s artist residency several times; we were given a lot of time to look around Naples and think about ideas. I am also showing older works from the 1980s of blue hanging car covers. Much of the work we have made has a relation to Naples and/or Italy.
A: How would you describe the central themes of the Art Lovers exhibition, and how do each of your works explore these?
ML: There is an Italian context, observations from our time there, some work produced there. I have made a large watercolour of the Palace of Italian Civilisation that Mussolini initiated in 1935. It was supposed to showcase Italian culture. I turned it into a future ruin with graffiti, crumbling stone, broken windows with weeds growing out – much like Hubert Robert did with the Grand Gallery of the Louvre in the 1700s. Mussolini made the Palace with the idea that his name, which contains six and nine letters, would be literally set in stone as the arches of the building contain nine arches across and six down. People nicknamed it the “Square Colosseum” and it was obviously based on the original Colosseum in Rome.
GW: We both made watercolours based on our time there, it started by thinking of Thomas Jones a Welsh painter who came to Naples whilst doing the Grand Tour. I think his studio was in the same neighbourhood as Thomas Dane Gallery, and so the wall would have been seen from his window. I have tried looking for it but I think it must have been pulled down many years ago. When working on exhibitions ideas come and go but leave residues, and consider Thomas Jones’ work really helped us think about doing watercolours of each other and our time there.
ML: He painted the Grotto of Posillipo as did many other artists like Piranesi and Turner. The grotto is a 700-metre Roman tunnel built in 37 AD and it is said that Virgil created it using a sunbeam. We both painted a version of it. My interest in Thomas Jones came from seeing his small post card sized painting of wall in Naples. It is the most unassuming painting in the National Gallery and I came upon it when I did my residency there so, when this exhibition came about, I wanted to recreate it.
A: After over two decades since your last joint exhibition, how did you approach this collaboration differently in terms of both artistic vision and the logistics of creating a shared exhibition?
ML: We wanted the exhibition to showcase work we have made over a long duration. We are used to working in proximity, so we have had many conversations on art and the whole experience has been quite seamless.
GW: I felt that once we started thinking about Naples and Italy as the starting point it brought everything together and we could bring our own individual ideas to this concept of location and culture. It is very much like how we would work anyhow, but we made a conscious effort to be more invested in talking about the nuances of the exhibition.
A: You have both incorporated elements of Naples into your new works. How did the city’s unique history, culture, and atmosphere influence the pieces you’ve selected for the show, particularly in the context of their existing practices?
GW: We both love Naples so much. I had been there in the 1980s and 1990s, and now more recently. It is a city that has everything: great history, art, culture, food and location. I did a self-portrait of Italian Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi. Although originally from Rome, she had spent the last two decades of her life living in Naples. It was rare in those times for women to be painters and you can see some influence of Caravaggio, whom her father knew. Every self portrait of her looks like a different person, and she may have used a model or adapted her own features. I portrayed her with a quill paint brush, similar to the ones used in those times.
ML: I made etchings of weeds found in and around Naples, like Lesser Calamint, Sweet Alyssum, Sweet Alison. I wanted to specifically do this in Naples, find the weed, dig it up and draw onto a plate. It’s about simplifying my practice, just me and the plant, trying to etch it to the best of my abilities. A weed is a plant out of place and they find the most difficult environments to exist in, where you wouldn’t imagine life would be able to survive. I find beauty in their act of resistance.
A: Gillian, in this exhibition, you return to your 1994 Naples archive, in which you collected handwritten messages from locals during the G7 summit? How do these images continue to speak to today’s political climate?
GW: There is a young woman who holds up a sign that she hates fascism. That sign is as pertinent today as it was in 1994. Others are very particularly of their time, but you could find an equivalent, like a woman who questions whether Berlusconi will end up owning China. You realise how much we have in common now as then. I love how the signs continue to feel very present in that sense, as well as offering an historical perspective of what was important to people back in the 1990s.
A: How do you see this exhibition as a turning point or continuation in your careers? Are there any upcoming developments or projects that you’re particularly excited about?
GW: It’s a continuation of our long journey and love of making art.
ML: My next project is a memorial I will be unveiling later in the year in Gunnersbury Park London. It is to commemorate all those humanitarians around the world who in some cases have lost their lives by helping others. It’s celebrating their selfless acts.
What do you hope people take away from visiting the show?
ML: I hope people will take a vial of San Gennaro’s blood from my sculpture that will protect them from all disasters, including Vesuvius erupting.
Art Lovers is at Thomas Dane Gallery, Naples until 12 April: thomasdanegallery.com
Words: Emma Jacob
Image Credits:
Gillian Wearing, Me as Monica Vitti in a wig, 2024 framed bromide print 153 x 114.74 cm.60 1/4 x 45 1/4 in.© Gillian Wearing. Courtesy Maureen Paley, London, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York and Regen Projects ,Los Angeles. Photo: Eva Herzog.
Gillian Wearing Signs that say what you want them to say and not Signs that say what someone else wants you to say (Spero che tuttiun giorno possano essere felici come lo sono io adesso),1994/2024 c-type print mounted on aluminium 44.5 x 29.7 cm.17 1/2 x 11 3/4 in.© Gillian Wearing. Courtesy Maureen Paley, London, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York and Regen Projects, Los Angeles.
Michael Landy Sovereign, 1988/2024 nylon, lycra, polyester, metalclips227 x 172 cm.89 1/4 x 67 3/4 in.© Michael Landy. Courtesy the artist and Thomas Dane Gallery. Photo: M3 Studio.
Gillian Wearing, Me as Artemisia Gentileschi, 2023 frame dc-type print152.4 x 114.3 cm. 60 x 45 in.© Gillian Wearing. Courtesy Maureen Paley, London, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York and Regen Projects, Los Angeles.
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