Simryn Gill facts for kids

Simryn Gill (born in 1959) is an artist from Singapore. She is known for her amazing work in sculpture, photography, drawing, printmaking, writing, and even publishing books! Simryn has shown her art at really important events like Germany's Documenta art show and the Venice Biennale. She is one of Australia's most famous modern artists. Simryn Gill lives in both Sydney, Australia, and Port Dickson, Malaysia.

Simryn Gill's Early Life and Art Journey

Simryn Gill was born in Singapore, but her family moved around a lot when she was a child. They lived in Malaysia, India, and the United Kingdom. She stayed in the UK through her young adult years. In 1987, her family settled in Australia. Simryn started studying art at the South Australian School of Art. However, she left her studies after a few months. This was partly because she had two young children to care for and she felt her art classes weren't exciting enough.

Even with these challenges, Simryn's art became very well-known in the art world. Her early photo collections, like May 2006 and Dalam, were especially praised. In 2007 and 2012, she was invited to show her art at Documenta in Germany. This is one of Europe's most famous art shows, happening every five years. A year later, in 2013, she was chosen to represent Australia at the 55th Venice Biennale. Since then, Simryn's art has been shown in many cities around the world. These include the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Guggenheim in London. In 2015, she had her first big solo exhibition, called Hugging the Shore, in Singapore.

What Kind of Art Does Simryn Gill Make?

Simryn Gill's art often explores the idea of being "in-between" places. Her artworks are inspired by the different homes she has lived in and how places influence us. She once said that her art isn't about representing one specific thing. Instead, it's about showing how things are always changing and connecting. Her work often takes small everyday items and moments to create a feeling of belonging.

For example, her artwork Red Hot (1992) is a Native American headdress made from dried chili peppers. Simryn grew these chilies herself while doing projects from an old boy scout manual with her son. This shows how she brings everyday life into her art. An art director named Elizabeth Ann Macgregor described Simryn's art as "careful yet feeling, thoughtful yet touchable."

Simryn loves to collect things, especially books. Her piece Roadkill (1999–2000) uses hundreds of items she found on the side of the road, like flattened plastic and trash. In many of her works, she lets people touch and move the items. This means the viewer can decide what the art means. Simryn also often lets her art be exposed to nature. This shows how man-made objects can change and break down over time.

Her photo artworks often come in a series. My Own Private Angkor (2007–2009) has 90 photos taken in an old, falling-apart housing area in Malaysia. This place had been stripped of anything valuable and left to the tropical weather. The name of the series reminds us of the ancient city of Angkor in Cambodia, which was also suddenly left in ruins. Similarly, her series Standing Still (2000) looks at empty and ruined buildings across Malaysia. This series was made after the country's economy faced difficulties.

Books and words are also important in Simryn's art. Pearls (2008) is a simple book with pictures of strings of beads. If you look closely, you'll see each bead is made from tightly rolled strips of paper. These papers come from famous books like Mao's 'Four Essays On Philosophy' and also from more ordinary books. Another version, Pearls, 9 Volumes of the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (2008–09), let visitors touch and play with the books, which were now shaped like balls used in the game boules. This interest in words and breaking down their rules is also seen in Where to Draw the Line (2011–2012), which is now at the Museum of Modern Art. The magazine ArtAsiaPacific says that Simryn's art constantly works with words. She wants to make them less powerful and more physical.

Because Simryn has traveled so much, her art is deeply shaped by the places, cultures, and people she has met. She uses these experiences to create powerful images and feelings in her art. She often leaves empty spaces in her photos and drawings. These spaces show how humans are both fascinated and a little scared of the unknown. Simryn also explores big ideas like cultural exchange, how the world is becoming more connected, and how nature and culture interact. She also looks at how knowledge changes in societies that were once colonies.

Hugging the Shore Exhibition

Simryn Gill's first solo exhibition, Hugging the Shore, was a special moment. It marked her return from Malaysia to Singapore. The artworks in this show explored themes like moving to new places, the passing of time, life, death, and how things decay. One piece, Like Leaves (2015), showed leaves from a sea apple tree pinned to a wall in a grid pattern. Each leaf was cut into a 6-centimeter square.

Simryn Gill at the Venice Biennale

In 2013, Simryn Gill represented Australia at the 55th Venice Biennale. Her exhibition was called Here Art Grows on Trees. Her art was shown in the Australian Pavilion, a building that had been used for art shows since 1988. This building was going to be removed soon after her exhibition. Simryn worked with a curator named Catherine de Zegher to create three unique artworks for the festival. De Zegher said the exhibition was about finding a balance between small things and global ideas, and between nature and industry. It showed how everything is connected in a changing world.

One artwork was a huge collage of carefully collected words spread across twelve white panels. Another was a series of large, colorful photographs of an abandoned mine system taken at dawn and dusk.

Her most famous work for the event involved the Australian Pavilion itself. Simryn wanted people to see her art as something that changes and doesn't last forever. So, she removed parts of the roof of the building! This allowed the art inside to change over the six months of the exhibition. The building and the art were slowly altered by the environment around them. This showed how nature can take back structures and objects made by humans.

Where You Can See Simryn Gill's Art

Simryn Gill's artworks are part of many important art collections around the world. Here are some of them:

• Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City
• Museum of Modern Art, New York City
• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco
• Tate, London
• Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
• Queensland Art Gallery & Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane

Simryn Gill's Solo Exhibitions

Simryn Gill has had many solo exhibitions, where only her art is shown. She is represented by Tracy Williams Ltd in New York City and has had four shows there: Blue (2014), Simryn Gill | Nicole Cherubini (2012), Holding Patterns (2010), and Interiors (2009).

Other solo exhibitions include:

• Simryn Gill: Stormy Days, Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai (2015)
• Hugging the Shore, NTU Centre for Contemporary Art, Singapore (2015)
• Here art grows on trees, Australian Pavilion, 55th Venice Biennale (2013)
• Simryn Gill: Inland, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne (2009)
• Simryn Gill: Gathering, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2008)
• Tate Modern, London (2006)
• Shiseido Gallery, Tokyo (2004)
• Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (2002)

Simryn Gill's Group Exhibitions

Simryn Gill has also been part of many group exhibitions, where her art is shown alongside other artists' work. Some of these include:

• Storylines: Contemporary Art at the Guggenheim, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2015)
• Apparitions: Frottages and Rubbings from 1860 to Now, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2015)
• Alluvial Constructs, Octavia Art Gallery, New Orleans (2014)
• Sites of Reason: A Selection of Recent Acquisitions, Museum of Modern Art, New York (2014)
• Lasting Images, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2013)
• 5th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, Moscow (2013)
• Considering Collage, Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai (2013)
• Untitled (12th Istanbul Biennial), Istanbul, Turkey (2011)
• Animism, Kunsthalle Bern, Bern, Switzerland (2010)
• Provisions for the Future, Sharjah Biennial, UAE (2010)
• Transmission Interrupted, Modern Art Oxford, Oxford, UK (2010)
• Revolutions – Forms That Turn, Biennale of Sydney (2008)
• News From Islands, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown (2007)
• documenta 12, Kassel, Germany (2007)
• Living in the Material World, National Arts Centre, Tokyo, Japan (2007)
• Singapore Biennale (2006)