Introduction

Since the early 1990s, Liam Gillick has been among the leading representatives of the continuing development of conceptual art. In 2009 he was chosen to design the German Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale. The Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany has dedicated an extensive solo exhibition to Liam Gillick. This is the first show of its kind, not only in Germany but also internationally. About 60 works from two decades will be on display. The development of his oeuvre will be shown according to groups of works and themes from the late 1980s to his contribution for the German Pavilion in 2009. The work of this artist, who lives in New York and London, cannot be allocated to any specific artistic media: he is at one and the same time, an object maker, painter, composer, curator and critic. Furthermore, Gillick can boast of an extensive list of publications which includes essays, critiques, ctional texts and theatre-related scenarios.

The show consists of five parts. It begins with an extensive text work which slices diagonally through the exhibition area like a wedge. The German and English wall text consists of titles of works which were created between 1990 and 2004 with different media ranging from small works on paper to large sculptures. Two further halls offer a retrospective insight. One focuses on the 1990s while the other provides insights into the development of Gillick’s works after the year 2000.

For the artist, the 1990s were defined by developing central topics and strategies, formulating a specific aesthetic approach and direction, and finding a balance and mutual interactions between his artworks and the literary and theoretical texts that he produced at the same time. Selected works from the extensive groups McNamara Papers (1992–1995), Erasmus and Ibuka! Realisations (1994-1996) and The What If? Scenarios (1996–1998) enable the viewer to explore Gillick’s early artistic path.

At the end of the 1990s Liam Gillick started producing works that can be summarized under the title Discussion Island, Big Conference Center. In many ways, the artworks come across as places which encourage discussion, in other words, a debate about the main questions in our society. Gillick created artworks as places for conversations, for discussions on the organisation of our society but also as places for the planning of future social model, so literary and political utopian visions appear as a basis for reflection and as failed attempts at creating a different society in the future. Gillick developed artworks on the basis of this exploration of social utopias which also feature in his text Literally No Place, 2002.