At the curfew an alarm will sound

Over the rough field there’s a clear sky in the darkness

I will recognise you when you come to the door

Wilkes grew up in a working-class area of East Belfast and moved to Glasgow aged 19, in 1985. Her art and writing are introspective and sometimes at the edge of legibility. At the same time, out of Wilkes’ non-dualist world emerge figures and objects which are potently direct and seditious.

Wilkes represented Britain at the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019 and Scotland at the 51st Venice Biennial in 2005. She was the inaugural recipient of the Maria Lassnig Prize in 2017, which was accompanied by a solo exhibition at MoMA PS1, New York in 2018. In 2015, a touring exhibition bringing together more than a decade of Wilkes’ work was presented at Tate Liverpool, LENTOS Kunstmuseum, Linz and Museum Abteiberg, Möenchengladbach. Wilkes was a founding member of Castlemilk Womanhouse, Dalriada Gallery and Glendale Women’s Cafe Pollokshields.

Courtesy The Modern Institute.