Corin Sworn (born 1976) is an artist who lives and works in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. Her 2012 installation and film ''The Foxes'' was shown at the Scottish Pavilion of the 2013

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

. Sworn was the recipient of the fifth edition of the Max Mara Art Prize.

Education and early career

Born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England, Sworn grew up in Canada. She was raised in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

before moving to

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

in 1999. She then began her BFA at the

Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design Emily Carr University of Art + Design (abbreviated as ECU) is a public art university located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The university's campus is located within the Great Northern Way Campus in Strathcona. The university is a co-e ...

in Vancouver, while simultaneously earning a degree from the

Central Saint Martins Central Saint Martins is a public tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of shor ...

College of Art & Design in 2002. In 2008, Sworn was one of eight artists in the ''Exponential Futures'' show at the

Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery The Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in Vancouver, British Columbia, on the campus of the University of British Columbia. The gallery is housed in an award-winning building designed by architect Peter Cardew and o ...

, alongside Tim Lee, Alex Morrison, Kevin Schmidt,

Althea Thauberger Althea Thauberger is a Canadian visual artist, film maker and educator. Her work engages relational practices rooted in sustained collaborations with groups or communities through social, theatrical and textual processes that often operate outside t ...

, Isabelle Pauwells, Elizabeth Zvonar and Marc Soo. In 2007 she began her Master of Fine Arts degree at the

Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; gd, Sgoil-ealain Ghlaschu) 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 ...

, graduating in 2009. Since graduating, Sworn has continued to live and work in

Work

Sworn's work ranges across a variety of media, including drawings, installations, photos and films. Colin Perry writes that her works "address ways in which human subjectivity is woven into overarching social trends and specific cultural forms." She has been featured in galleries including the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the l ...

Whitechapel Gallery The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery in Whitechapel on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The original building, designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, opened in 1901 as one of the fir ...

in London, and the

Museum of Contemporary Art Museum of Contemporary Art (often abbreviated to MCA, MoCA or MOCA) may refer to: Africa * Museum of Contemporary Art (Tangier), Morocco, officially le Galerie d'Art Contemporain Mohamed Drissi Asia East Asia * Museum of Contemporary Art Shangha ...

Australia. She is commercially represented in the United Kingdom by the Koppe Astner art gallery, in Germany by the Natalia Hug Galler and in the United States by

ZieherSmith ZieherSmith is a New York City contemporary art gallery run by Andrea Smith Zieher and Scott Zieher. Gallery exhibitions have been widely reviewed, including shows by artists Tucker Nichols, Rachel Owens, Rachel Rossin, Christoph Ruckäberle, All ...

. In 2013 Sworn was commissioned to create a poster design, ''Waiting for a Train'', as part of

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

's 150th anniversary celebrations.

Awards

Sworn won the fifth edition of the Max Mara Art Prize, organised by

Collezione Maramotti The Collezione Maramotti is the private collection of contemporary art of Achille Maramotti, who founded Max Mara. It is housed in the former premises of the company in Reggio Emilia, in Emilia Romagna in central Italy, converted for the pur ...

(

Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia ( egl, Rèz; la, Regium Lepidi), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has abou ...

Max Mara Max Mara (Italian aks 'ma:ra is an Italian fashion business. It markets up-market ready-to-wear clothing. It was established in 1951 in Reggio Emilia by Achille Maramotti (7 January 1927 – 12 January 2005). In March 2008, the company had 2,2 ...

and in collaboration with the

of London. The prize was a six-month residency in Italy where Sworn developed her 2015 installation ''Silent Sticks''. The installation included film shot by

Margaret Salmon Margaret Salmon is an American and British based film maker-artist. The work of this New York-born filmmaker is fuelled by references to the great realist tradition in film, be it the propaganda documentary of the Farm Security Administratio ...

displayed on two narrow screens. The installation space was filled with handmade props, lights, 16th-century ''

commedia dell'arte (; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Charact ...

'' performer costumes, still lifes, and disembodied voices telling the story of

Martin Guerre Martin Guerre, a French peasant of the 16th century, was at the centre of a famous case of imposture. Several years after Martin Guerre had left his wife, child and village, a man claiming to be him appeared. He lived with Guerre's wife and so ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sworn, Corin 1976 births Living people 21st-century British artists 21st-century British women artists Alumni of Central Saint Martins Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art Artists from Glasgow British installation artists Emily Carr University of Art and Design alumni University of British Columbia alumni Women installation artists