Mark Wallinger
Dr John Snow (1813-1858)
All bids
| Year | 2021 |
|---|---|
| Medium | Ink and graphite on paper |
| Dimensions | 27.5 x 21 cm |
| Top pick | Aaron Cezar, Director of Delfina Foundation |
About the work
John Snow’s identification of the Broad Street pump as the cause of the Soho cholera epidemic of 1854 overturned the pervading theory that cholera was spread through the air. It became the founding event of the science of epidemiology, which has helped shape public health policies around the world.
Thames Water is the biggest user of access covers in the UK. My drawing represents the cover nearest to Snow’s former home (and blue plaque) on Frith Street in Soho. Graphite has the colour and sheen of the ductile iron of these generally overlooked objects.
About the artist:
Born 1959 Chigwell, Mark Wallinger lives and works in London. Graduated from MA Goldsmith’s College, London (1985); Chelsea School of Art, London (1981); and Loughton College (1978).
Wallinger is one of the UK’s leading contemporary artists. Having previously been nominated for the Turner Prize in 1995, he won in 2007 for his installation State Britain. His work Ecce Homo (1999–2000) was the first piece to occupy the empty plinth in Trafalgar Square. He represented Britain at the Venice Biennale in 2001. Labyrinth (2013), a major and permanent commission for Art on the Underground, was created to celebrate 150 years of the London Underground. In 2018, the permanent work Writ in Water was realised for the National Trust to celebrate Magna Carta at Runnymede, and The World Turned Upside Down was unveiled in 2019 for the London School of Economics.
His works are held in public collections including Tate, London; MoMA, New York; and Centre Pompidou, Paris.
Selected solo exhibitions include Mark Wallinger, SCAD Savannah College of Art and Design (2019); Upside Down Inside Out Back To Front, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna (2019); The Human Figure In Space, Jerwood Gallery, Hastings (2018); MARK WALLINGER MARK, Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato and touring (2016-18); SITE, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead (2012); Museum de Pont, Tilburg (2011); Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo (2010); Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau (2008); Kunstverein Braunschweig (2007); State Britain, Tate Britain, London (2007); No Man’s Land, Whitechapel Gallery, London (2001); and Credo, Tate, Liverpool (2000). Selected group exhibitions include World Without End, Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane (2020); 800th Anniversary Exhibition at Salisbury Cathedral, Salisbury Cathedral (2020); Counter Acts, Lethaby Gallery, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London (2019); L’homme qui marche, Verkörperungen des Sperrigen, Kunsthalle Bielefeld (2019); You Can’t Tell By Looking, Tension Fine Art, London (2019); Revolution From Without, The Shelly and Donald Rubin Foundation, New York (2019); In the Labyrinth, Large Glass, London (2019); and The Art of Dissonance, Seoul Museum of Art (2017).
