Hamish Fulton
Hamish Fulton was born in London in 1946. His particular artistic condition does not allow him to be confined within a specific studio or city. As a walking artist, his studio and, more generally, his “city” are the places he visits through his long walks, which form the beating heart of his works.
Fulton chose from the 1960s onwards not to use smartphones or GPS during his walks, denouncing the risk that technology may separate us from nature. Labelled as a sculptor, photographer, conceptual and landscape artist, Fulton defines himself simply as a “walking artist” and father of Walking Art, active since the 1960s alongside figures such as Richard Long. A graduate of St Martin’s College of Art in London, he began undertaking field walking performances starting with the first collective “artwalk” on 2 February 1967. For him, «If I do not walk, I cannot make a work of art»: each of his walks — across more than 25 countries over 50 years — has generated photographs, drawings, wall paintings and texts in which he recounts the spirit of the places traversed: «The physical engagement of walking creates a receptivity to the landscape… a walk along a road can transform the everyday world.» His art has always originated from the act of walking; for Fulton, «an object cannot compete with an experience».
He has exhibited worldwide in both group and solo exhibitions. One of his most iconic performances, “Slowalk”, took place at Tate Modern in London, in support of Ai Weiwei. Among other recent presentations: “Salzweg. Hamish Fulton in Salzkammergut” (2024), Bad Ischl (Austria, European Capital of Culture), a solo exhibition inspired by Alpine paths, featuring textual images and environmental installations; “A Walking Artist” (2023), a solo exhibition at FRAC Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur in Marseille, focused on the relationships between space, walking and the visual memory of landscape. In 2024 he mentored the project “WALKING MOUNTAINS”, curated by Andrea Lerda at the Museo Nazionale della Montagna in Turin: a collaborative initiative involving walking performances and residencies dedicated to reflecting on the relationship between walking and the environment. In 2025 he took part in the final exhibition in the former brewery spaces of Galleria Michela Rizzo with the group show “Boulder”, of which he was the conceptual fulcrum.
