Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press
March 21 – April 25, 2026 | The Common Guild, Glasgow
Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press, Every Word Unmade, 2006-2007 (detail). Artwork courtesy the David and Indrė Roberts Collection.
The Common Guild’s first exhibition of 2026 is the first in a new, annual series, entitled ‘Studies’, developed in conjunction with the Roberts Institute of Art. Each exhibition will draw from the collection to present key works by major artists. ‘Studies’ centers upon well-established artistic practices and works made in the 1990s – 2000s that particularly connect with present. The first exhibition in the series is focused on a work by Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press.
‘Every Word Unmade’ (2006–2007) is a neon alphabet, very evidently hand-made by the artist, who bent hot glass into the 26 letter forms of the alphabet. The struggle against and with the medium, and with language itself is evident. As Banner has said, “words are extensions of our physical selves, so I started to explore the physicality of words.”
It is a work, like many of Banner’s, about communication and the building blocks of language: here the fragile and faltering letter forms are combined, in its use of neon, with the seductive language of the street and commerce. Every Word Unmade represented a departure from Banner’s densely verbal work that addressed the myths and narratives of conflict – a playful attempt to denude language of its manipulative power. Every Word Unmade is accompanied by a small selection of related works by the artist.