Professor Ross Sinclair (born 1966 in Glasgow) is a Scottish visual artist, musician and writer. He lives and works in

Kilcreggan Kilcreggan (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cille Chreagain'') is a village on the Rosneath Peninsula in Argyll and Bute, West of Scotland. It developed on the north shore of the Firth of Clyde at a time when Clyde steamers brought it within easy reach ...

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle; , ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of western Scotland. The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975 and most of the area ...

and is currently Reader in Contemporary Art Practice at The Glasgow School of Art, whilst also maintaining his professional practice. Sinclair was one of the key figures in the movement of contemporary artists in Glasgow in the 1990s, dubbed the 'Glasgow Miracle' by art curator and critic

Hans-Ulrich Obrist Hans Ulrich Obrist (born 1968) is a Swiss art curator, critic, and art historian. He is artistic director at the Serpentine Galleries, London. Obrist is the author of ''The Interview Project'', an extensive ongoing project of interviews. He is ...

Early life and education

Ross Sinclair was born and lived in Bearsden and went to Boclair Academy before studying at the

Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; ) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and design. These are all awa ...

between 1984 and 1992, gaining first a BA in Environmental Art and then a Masters in

Fine Art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...

. This study period included an exchange to the

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a Private university, private art school in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for ...

, Los Angeles in 1992.

Work

Since the late 80s Sinclair has shown work in hundreds of group and solo exhibitions in the UK and internationally, producing various monographs of his artworks, notably ''If North Was South and East Was West'' as well as writing texts and essays in many books and publications. He often makes music in relation to his artworks and this is documented through a number of releases including ''Ross Sinclair: The Real Life Rock Opera Volume I'' (2004), ''Ross and the Realifers: Real Life and How to Live it in Parledonia'' (2013) and ''Real Life is Dead/Long Live Real Life (2017.)''

Real Life

Ross Sinclair is best known for his ''Real Life'' project, initiated in 1994 when he had the words 'Real Life' tattooed across his back. Since then ''Real Life'' has become a 23-year performance project, taking form in a wide range of exhibitions, public art and publication contexts. Over the two decades of the ''Real Life'' project, Sinclair's work has employed various mediums including performance, painting and music, often at the same time. Through installation and audience participation ''Real Life'' has sought to challenge the conventional exhibition practice and connect with the public. These projects have been exhibited worldwide. Throughout the course of the project, a consistent thread of Sinclair's work has sought to address the nature of the individual, collective and national identities of Scotland. During August 2015, Sinclair exhibited his work in ''20 Years of Real Life'' at Edinburgh'
Collective Gallery
which celebrated 20 years of his ''Real Life'' project. Sinclair worked with teenagers to create 5 bands and produce an LP titled ''Free Instruments for Teenagers.''

Real Life is Dead/Long Live Real Life

The most recent incarnation of the ''Real Life'' project came as part of a two-week residency Ross Sinclair undertook at the Shanghai Himalayas Museum in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, ahead of his solo exhibition titled ''Real Life is Dead/Long Live Real Life''. This exhibition served to herald a new phase of Sinclair's on-going ''Real Life'' project. For the exhibition Sinclair added the text 'Is Dead' to the 'Real Life' tattoo. The residency focused on the consistent themes of participation, performance and collaboration, coupled with Sinclair's use of music in his art throughout his career. Sinclair worked with students at the

over a period of two years to develop and record two songs (''Real Life is Dead'' and ''Long Live Real Life'') which lay at the core of the exhibition. The songs were recorded in both English and Chinese. In Shanghai, Sinclair worked with local musicians, artists and singers to create the ''Chinese-Scottish Real Life Orchestra'' – a musical dialogue between the Chinese audience and Sinclair's ''Real Life'' Project. The group came together in a collective voice, in English and Chinese, to share experiences through music. The orchestra presented a live performance at the opening reception of the Phase Three exhibition of ''CURRENT: Contemporary Art from Scotland,'' which provided the soundtrack to Sinclair's installation consisting of multiple editions of banners and videos representing the 23-years of the ''Real Life'' project. Participants were also invited to respond to the themes of ''Real Life is Dead/Long Live Real Life'' with words and pictures which were displayed on banners and placards.

Exhibitions

Ross Sinclair has participated in monographic and group exhibitions worldwide. Solo shows include those at the

South London Gallery The South London Gallery, founded 1891, is a public-funded gallery of contemporary art in Camberwell, London. Until 1992, it was known as the South London Art Gallery, and nowadays the acronym SLG is often used. Margot Heller became its direct ...

in 2010
Badischer Kunstverein
in 2002,

Art Metropole Art Metropole is an artist-run centre that publishes, promotes, exhibits, archives and distributes artists' publications and other materials. Art Metropole was founded in 1974 by the Canadian artist collective General Idea as a division of Art ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

in 2004 an
Angelika Knäpper Gallery

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

in 2010. In 2014, Sinclair took part in ''Generation: 25 Years of Contemporary Art in Scotland'' at the

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art National Galleries Scotland: Modern (the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art) is part of National Galleries Scotland, which is based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Modern houses the collection of modern and contemporary art dating from about 1 ...

. In 2016 Sinclair was a

Visiting Fellow In academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of ...

at St John's College,

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, where he was

Artist in Residence Artist-in-residence (also Writer-in-residence), or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs that involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs that pr ...

for three months. The residency encourages the artist to contribute to the artistic and cultural life of the college with the possibility to exhibit in the studio and utilise the research and staff of the college and wider university. In 2017 Sinclair exhibited at

Inverness Museum and Art Gallery Inverness Museum and Art Gallery is a museum and gallery on Castle Wynd in Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland. There is no entry charge. The collection and facilities are managed by High Life Highland on behalf of Highland Council. Foreru ...

, in a solo-show titled ''After After After The Monarch of the Glen, Real Life Is Dead.'' The museum commissioned a response to the iconic

Edwin Henry Landseer Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (7 March 1802 – 1 October 1873) was an English painter and sculptor, well known for his paintings of animals – particularly horses, dogs, and stags. His best-known work is the lion sculptures at the base of Nelso ...

painting '' The Monarch of the Glen.'' Also in 2017, Sinclair undertook a 2-week residency at the Shanghai Himalayas Museum in

. This accumulated in a solo exhibition titled ''Real Life is Dead/Long Live Real Life''. For the exhibition, Sinclair added the text 'is dead' to the ‘real life’ tattoo. The exhibition included a multi-media presentation. In Shanghai, Sinclair worked with local musicians, artists and singers to create the ''Chinese-Scottish Real Life Orchestra.'' The group came together in a collective voice, in English and Chinese, to share experiences through music. The residency was supported by the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

, and was one of the programmes in th
Spirit of Youth
campaign in 2017.

Music

Ross Sinclair is a drummer and guitarist. In 1984/85 joined his first band, ''Gods For All Occasions'', featuring Neil Menzies and Raymond McGinlay, later a member of

Teenage Fanclub Teenage Fanclub are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in Glasgow in 1989. The group were founded by Norman Blake (Scottish musician), Norman Blake (vocals, guitar), Raymond McGinley (vocals, lead guitar) and Gerard Love (vocals, bass), al ...

. It was during this time that Sinclair became a founding member of

The Soup Dragons The Soup Dragons are a Scottish alternative rock band of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Named after a character in the 1970s children's television series ''Clangers'', the group is best known for its cover of the Rolling Stones' song " I'm Fre ...

. For 5 years he performed on records and played concerts including Glastonbury in 1987, and supported bands such as

Primal Scream Primal Scream are a Scottish rock music, rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie (vocals) and Jim Beattie (musician), Jim Beattie (guitar). The band's current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes (guitar), Simon ...

and

The Jesus and Mary Chain The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid, who are the two founders and only consistent members of the ...

. The group went on to perform on

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

in 1990 and sold half a million albums in the USA. In the early 1990s Sinclair left the group to complete his studies at the

. He reunited with the group for six concerts in the UK in October and November 2023. He has previously released records, ''Real Life Parledonia'' (2013) and ''Real Life is Dead/Long Live Real Life'' (2017) and CD's ''I Tried to Give Up Drinking With Guitars Instead of God'' (2013) and ''The Real Life Rock Opera'' (2004.)

Writing and PhD

Ross Sinclair has written extensively. He contributed to an essay on Susan Phillipsz (the 2010 Turner Prize winner) and in 2014 to a

monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

titled ''You Are Not Alone.'' His work appeared in ''Generation Reader: 25 Years of Contemporary Art in Scotland'', which was published in 2014 to mark the exhibition of the same name. In June 2016 Sinclair completed a PhD thesis entitled ''Ross Sinclair: 20 Years of Real Life'' and was awarded the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Published Work at

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

Awards and recognition

* 1990: Bank of Scotland Prize for Best Dissertation, Glasgow School of Art * 1992: Glasgow Educational and Marshall Fund * 1992: Hope Scott Trust/The Cross Trust/The Scottish International Education Fund * 1992: Richard Ellis M.A. Prize,

* 1993:

Scottish Arts Council The Scottish Arts Council (), was a Scottish public body responsible for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland. The Council primarily distributed funding from the Scottish Government as well as National Lottery funds ...

, Assistance Grant * 1994:

, Amsterdam Residency '94–'95 * 1997:

, Artist Award * 1998–2000: Paul Hamlyn Award * 1999: Arendt Oetker Atelier Stipendium, Gelerie fur Zeitgenossische Kunst,

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

* 2000: Scottish Arts Council, Artist Award * 2001: Art Statements, Basel Art Fair, Baloise Prize * 2004: SAC Creative Development Award * 2007: Creative Scotland Award * 2011: RSA Residencies for Scotland * 2012: AHRC, The Glasgow Miracle: Materials for Alternative Histories * 2013: Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland, Artist of the Year Award * 2015: GSA Research Development Fund * 2015: Knight Award (Detroit/Glasgow project awarded to curator Cedric Tai) * 2016: St John's College,

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, Visiting Fellow/Artist Residency Award

Collections

Sinclair’s work is held in many collections, including The Scottish Arts Council,

The British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

Arts Council of England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bo ...

Ferens Art Gallery The Ferens Art Gallery is an art gallery in the English city of Kingston upon Hull. The site and money for the gallery were donated to the city by Thomas Ferens, after whom it is named. The architects were S. N. Cooke and E. C. Dav ...

, The Pier Arts Centre, Stirling District Council, Sammlung Hauser & Wirth, St Gallen, Hamburg Kunsthalle, Collection Lambert, Avignon and private collections in Switzerland, Germany, the UK, France, the USA and Hong Kong.

Personal life

Sinclair lives and works in

with his partner, the artist Christine Borland and is employed as Professor in Contemporary Art Practice and lecturer in Sculpture and Environmental Art at the Glasgow School of Art.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinclair, Ross 1966 births Living people Scottish artists Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art