Mark Wallinger – Rolls-Royce Ghost

Among other definitions of Ghost, two would appear apposite to the history of Rolls-Royce: a returning or haunting memory or image, or to move noiselessly like a ghost. In 1907 Claude Johnson, Commercial and Managing Director of Rolls-Royce, ordered a car to be used as a demonstrator by the company. The car was named the Silver Ghost to emphasise its ghost- like quietness, and a plaque bearing this name adorned the bulkhead. The aim was to raise public awareness of the new company and to show the reliability and quietness of their new car. The latest Rolls-Royce Ghost hearkens back to this original groundbreaking car. I have placed the modern Ghost in a small frosted glass vitrine to create a ghostly Rolls-Royce.

Biography

Mark 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. Ecce Homo (1999) was the first work to occupy the empty plinth in Trafalgar Square, and was later shown at the Venice Biennale in 2001 where Wallinger was Britain's representative. Most recently, Labyrinth (2013), a major and permanent commission for Art on the Underground, was created to celebrate 150 years of the London Underground.

Wallinger has held solo exhibitions at the Serpentine Gallery in London, Tate Liverpool, Vienna Secession, Museum for Gegenwartskunst in Basel, Palais Des Beaux Arts in Brussels, Museo de Arte Carillo Gill, Mexico City and Museum de Pont in the Netherlands. His latest solo exhibition, SITE, took place in 2012 at BALTIC, Gateshead. His work is displayed in the collections of many leading international museums including Tate, MoMA New York, and Centre Pompidou Paris.