One of the most important figures in international contemporary art, Liam Gillick works across diverse forms, including sculpture and installation. A theorist, curator and educator as well as an artist, his wider body of work includes published essays and texts, lectures, curatorial and collaborative projects, all of which inform (and are informed by) his art practice. Gillick’s line of enquiry is into conditions of production, including how it continues to operate in a post-industrial landscape: questions of economy, labour and social organisation are ongoing preoccupations. He is perhaps best-known for producing sculptural objects – platforms, screens, models, benches, prototypes, signage, or structural supports made from sleek modular Plexiglas and aluminium forms in standardised colours from the RAL system. These seductive materials speak the language of renovation and development: originally refined by the military, they’ve been widely used in corporate interiors since the 1990s, a decade in which post-industrial societies saw a shift from the collective to the individualist and privatised. Drawing upon engineering and industrial design as well as the legacy of hard-edged minimalism, these abstract quasi-architectural forms offer a critique of neo-liberal or corporate aesthetics, automation and endless (re)development. Focusing on secondary or incomplete forms such as screens and platforms, Gillick pinpoints structures which have a potential to destabilise the power of architecture and the architecture of power, creating generative spaces for discussion or the development of ideas.
Liam Gillick lives and works in New York.
Liam Gillick
Kinetic Energy of Rigid Bodies, 2021
matte black vinyl on wall
315 x 170 cm / 124 x 78.7 in
Liam Gillick
Diversity Channelled, 2018
powder-coated aluminium
32 x 90 x 8 cm / 12.6 x 35.4 x 3.1 in
Liam Gillick
Critical tiles..., 2018
matte black vinyl on wall
300 x 300 cm / 118.1 x 118.1 in
Liam Gillick
Expansion Channelled, 2018
powder-coated aluminium
16 x 45 x 8 cm / 6.3 x 17.7 x 3.1 in
Liam Gillick
Denominator Platform, 2018
powder-coated aluminium, plexiglass
200 x 300 x 5 cm / 78.7 x 118.1 x 2 in
Liam Gillick
Reached Horizon, 2017
powder-coated aluminium, 30 elements
185 x 400 x 5 cm / 72.8 x 157.5 x 2 in
5 x 200 x 5 cm / 2 x 78.7 x 2 in each element
Liam Gillick
Distinct Elevation, 2017
powder-coated aluminium, Plexiglas
200 x 280 x 140 cm / 78.7 x 110.2 x 55.1 in
Liam Gillick
Neural Mechanisms, 2016
birch plywood, two pack lacquer - RAL6018, mirror
2 elements, desk and stool
200 x 102.5 x 30 cm / 78.7 x 40.4 x 11.8 in
50 x 40 x 40 cm / 19.7 x 15.7 x 15.7 in
Liam Gillick
Captured Plant, 2013
powder-coated aluminium, Plexiglas, unique
two elements each:
50 x 80 x 10 cm / 19.7 x 31.5 x 3.9 in
110 x 80 x 10 cm / 43.3 x 31.5 x 3.9 in total
Liam Gillick
Leeched Screen, 2014
powder-coated aluminium, Plexiglas
304.8 x 213.5 x 31.5 cm / 120 x 84.1 x 12.4 in
Liam Gillick
riggedattraction, 2014
powder-coated aluminium, 50 elements
each element 180 x 3 x 10 cm / 70.9 x 1.2 x 3.9 in
total size 180 x 640 x 10 cm / 70.9 x 252 x 3.9 in
Liam Gillick
A Game of War Structure, 2011
anodized and powder-coated aluminium
106.5 x 125 x 155 cm / 41.9 x 49.2 x 61 in
Collection of Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin
Liam Gillick
Complete Bin Development, 2013
powder-coated aluminium, Plexiglas, 6 elements
each element 300 x 150 x 160 cm / 118.1 x 59.1 x 63
Liam Gillick
McNamara Motel, 1997/2011
white neon, unique with 1 AP
350 x 37 cm / 137.8 x 14.6 in approx.
Liam Gillick
Multiplied Resistance Screened, 2010
Installation at Château La Coste. Photograph Andrew Pattman
Liam Gillick
Liquidation in the snow, 2010
powder-coated aluminium, Plexiglas, unique
two elements each 50 x 50 x 10 cm / 19.7 x 19.7 x 3.9 in
Liam Gillick
Literally Based on H.Z., 2006
Ten table units and seven prototypes/structures
each table 240cm x 120cm x 100cm / 94.5 x 47 x 39.3 in
Collection of Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin
Kinetic Energy of Rigid Bodies, Replace Rubens, Sankt Peter, Cologne, 2021
Image: Christopher Clem Franken
Liam Gillick has had solo exhibitions in many of the world’s leading museums, including Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Kunsthalle Zürich; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Witte de With, Rotterdam; Kunst-und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn; MAGASIN, Grenoble; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Tate Britain, London and IMMA, Dublin. Recent solo exhibitions include Gwangju Museum of Art, Korea; Sankt Peter, Cologne (both 2021); Madre Museum, Naples; Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna; Kunsthaus Zürich; Neues Museum Nürnberg; Potter Museum, Melbourne (all 2019); Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius (2017–18); Fundação de Serralves, Porto (2016-17) and Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane (2016). Gillick has participated in major international exhibitions including Okayama Art Summit, Japan and the Venice, Shanghai, Istanbul and Yinchuan biennales.
Liam Gillick
The Work Life Effect, 2021
Gwangju Museum of Art, Korea
Liam Gillick
Standing on Top of a Building: Films 2008-2019, 2019
Madre Museum, Naples, Italy
Liam Gillick
The Light is no Brighter at the Centre, 2017
Contemporary Art Centre (CAC), Vilnius, Lithuania
Liam Gillick
Liam Gillick: 199A TO 199B, 2012
Hessel Museum of Art, Bard College, NY, USA
Liam Gillick
How will you behave: A kitchen cat speaks, 2009
German Pavilion, Venice Biennale, Italy
Liam Gillick
Three Perspectives and a Short Scenario, 2008-09
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, USA
