TATE PATRONS REPORT 2016/17
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TATE PATRONS REP ORT
2016/17
1
TATE PATRONS REP ORT
2016/17
Director’s foreword 4
Chair’s address 5
Tate St Ives 6
Patrons Art Challenge 2017 8
Patrons events highlights 2016/17 10
Artworks you helped purchase 12
Exhibitions you helped stage 38
How you helped others enjoy Tate 54
How you helped care for the collection 60
Thank you 64
Tate Patrons Executive Committee 72
Young Patrons Ambassador Group 73
Contact us 74
Cover: Detail of Anwar Jalal Shemza’s Composition
in Red and Green, Squares and Circles 1963 Tate
© Estate of Anwar Jalal Shemza. Photo © Tate
Previous page: Patrons tour Tate Store
Photo © Tate (Lucy Dawkins)
2 3
DIREC TOR ’ S FOREWORD CHAIR ’ S ADDRE SS
I am absolutely delighted to have become Director of Tate I would like to extend a very warm and enthusiastic welcome
at this pivotal time for the organisation. The arts have never to Maria Balshaw as Director of Tate. We look forward to our
been more important to society, as a force that brings people continued involvement in being part of Tate as Maria builds on
together and promotes creativity, inspiration and learning. recent successes and promotes Tate’s adventurous and inclusive
At Tate we are able to harness the power of art to bring people vision for the galleries. I would also like to thank Sir Nicholas
together and shed light on the important issues of today – Serota and congratulate him on the incredible legacy that he
be it through our diverse exhibitions, which celebrate new created over the past twenty-eight years as Director.
pioneers as well as recognised international artists, or
our collaborative, inclusive and thought-provoking public It has been a true pleasure being alongside you all throughout
programmes, such as Tate Exchange. another remarkable year at Tate. We have seen the completed
expansion of Tate St Ives, and the Blavatnik Building at Tate
Your support as a Patron is so important in realising these goals. Modern being shortlisted for a RIBA award and the Art Fund
Being prominently visible across highly successful exhibitions Museum of the Year award.
in London, in our inclusive learning programmes, and within the
collection through the conservation and addition of international Patrons continue to be a key part of Tate’s success. With your
and historic works, your support is as wide-reaching as ever. generosity we have supported a diverse range of exhibitions,
A personal highlight for me, acquired with your generosity from Wolfgang Tillmans: 2017 to David Hockney, which became
over the last year, is Rosa Barba’s seminal film piece The Hidden the most visited exhibition in Tate Britain’s history. We have
Conference 2010–15, with one of the three films being filmed at been able to support the ambitious Tate Exchange, which pushes
our very own Tate Store! the boundaries of traditional gallery learning programmes, as
well as helping to acquire a range of significant artworks and
My vision for the next chapter of Tate’s journey is that we strive funding the conservation of a major painting by Fahrelnissa Zeid.
to be the most artistically adventurous and culturally inclusive
global art museum, and I look forward to embarking on this In addition to curator-led tours of all of Tate’s exhibitions
with you. in London, we took two overseas trips to Japan and Athens,
while closer to home we visited Kent and Nottingham,
I would like to thank you for being such valued members of experiencing these distinct arts scenes and meeting regional
the Tate family, and also give special thanks to Midge Palley collectors. Thank you to those of you who generously hosted
for her continued dedication as Chair of Tate Patrons. us throughout the last year. Many of you will also have enjoyed
taking part in the ever popular Patrons Art Challenge, which
It is a privilege to be able to count on your support as we will return in 2019.
anticipate an exciting future and I look forward to sharing
with you the many special moments the coming year will With so much in store for 2018, I look forward to being part
undoubtedly bring. of many more exciting projects at Tate with all of you. We are
extremely grateful for your continued support.
Dr Maria Balshaw CBE
Director, Tate Midge Palley
Chair, Tate Patrons
4 5
TATE ST IVE S R EF U R B IS H M EN T
Having undergone major extension and redevelopment over the past Undertaken by the award-winning architectural
four years, Tate St Ives officially reopened its refurbished galleries in partnership Evans and Shalev, who designed the
March 2017, with The Studio and The Sea, and unveiled its new gallery original Tate St Ives building, the refurbishment
spaces to critical acclaim in October 2017, with British sculptor Rebecca project saw a new Learning Suite emerge in the
Warren’s first UK solo show. heart of the existing building. The expansion
of the Courtyard has created a new studio space,
Tate St Ives, October 2017.
The transformation of existing spaces and the creation of brand new supported by the Clore Duffield Foundation, to Photo © Tate (Marcus Leith)
display areas enables an even wider range of artworks to go on display hold practical learning activities, lectures, talks
at any one time and continuously throughout the year, with the galleries and films. A newly built terrace room above the Courtyard
previously having to close for up to six weeks a year during exhibition caters for further learning and socialising, and improvements
change-overs. Thanks to the new galleries, larger scale artworks were made to the existing learning spaces and visitor facilities.
and installations can now be accommodated, which were previously The St Ives Studio meanwhile allows for easy access for the
unable to be shown. Refurbished facilities meanwhile have created public to a whole host of information on artists associated with
improved social and learning spaces that will St Ives, including teaching and learning resources, art books
help enhance visitors’ experience and and publications, and the online Tate collection, library
engagement with the art presented. and archive catalogues. This all enables the gallery to more
effectively stage an increasing range of learning programmes,
Reinstating itself as a key cultural and artistic from workshops for families, young people, and hard-to-reach
hub in the West Country, the gallery continues communities, to school tours and teacher training.
to advocate, inspire and nurture creative
communities that have historically emanated
from St Ives, as well as internationally. E X T EN SI O N
The new gallery space at Tate St Ives, displaying
Rebecca Warren: All That Heaven Allows, October 2017.
Photo © Tate (Marcus Leith)
Jamie Fobert Architects were appointed designers of the
D I R E C TO R ’ S S TAT E M EN T extension project which adjoins the original gallery and
doubles the display space. An expansive exhibition space
has been added, which is sunken into the hillside, creating
We are delighted to have seen the successful opening of the extended high-quality, top-lit, flexible spaces which can be reconfigured
and redeveloped Tate St Ives in the autumn of 2017. It is our aim that to accommodate seasonal exhibitions and displays. It is now
the gallery will continue to be a source of community, inspiration and possible to show a permanent display of work from the Tate
empowerment in the region, through the ever more diverse range collection by artists associated with St Ives all year round in the
of exhibitions and learning programmes we are now able to share with original gallery spaces, alongside these temporary exhibitions.
our growing audiences, thanks to the new and refurbished spaces. Meanwhile, improved art handling and collection care facilities
have been created in a pavilion-like structure, which sits above
Anne Barlow the new galleries. The extension’s design is in keeping with the
Director, Tate St Ives area’s unique landscape and the existing building, employing
granite synonymous with the area to line the exterior gallery
walls, glimmering ceramic tiles on the pavilion to reflect the
coastal environment, and a roof garden.
6 7
PATRONS ART CHALLENGE 2017
The Patrons Art Challenge returned in style in 2017, with an evening
full of diverse quiz and creative rounds putting your knowledge of Tate
and the wider art world to the test. Hosted in the grand setting of the
1840s gallery at Tate Britain, the evening was overseen by special guest
quizmaster Sir Nicholas Serota. We look forward to seeing you in 2019
for the next edition.
Photos © Tate
8 9
PATRONS E VENTS HIGH LIGHTS
2016/17
Throughout 2016 /17, we enjoyed as diverse an events programme as
ever, with curator-led tours of all of the year’s exhibitions at Tate in London
and exhibitions elsewhere in the UK, visits to artist studios and private
collections, and opportunities to explore art scenes and fairs both in the
UK and internationally. Here are some of the highlights:
Photos © Tate
10 11
ART WORK S YOU HELPED PU RCHA SE 12 13
Ed Atkins THE ARTIST
Born 1982 Having studied at Central St Martins and the Slade School
of Fine Art in London, Ed Atkins has become a central figure
Hisser 2015 in the international contemporary art landscape. Working
primarily with HD video, Atkins fluently utilises cinematic
devices with great emotive effect. Despite his use of non-
narrative structures and seemingly incongruous sequences
of images, he pairs image and sound to maximise the
material’s visceral potential. In this way his work shares
similarities with his contemporaries, including Laure Prouvost,
Emily Wardill, James Richards and Duncan Campbell. Atkins
was the subject of an Art Now exhibition at Tate Britain in 2011
and has also presented many solo exhibitions, recently at the
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, and The Kitchen, New York.
T H E WO R K
Hisser 2015 is a video projection with sound inspired by
a true story of a man from Florida who disappeared into a
sinkhole and was never found. Originally commissioned for
the 14th Istanbul Biennial, the film portrays the man’s avatar
in a melancholic state of reverie, navigating a controlled,
highly artificial pathos-filled world. Panning shots of a stage-
like bedroom are interrupted with images of the avatar’s
body and bruised face, as he mutters, whistles and hums.
In between this and fragments of mournful classical music,
phrases such as ‘I didn’t know I was asleep, it took me so
long to get my feet back off the ground’ evoke sensations
of longing, lost love and missed opportunities. The avatar
is later seen nude and fragile, moving around in an empty
white space, before looking at Rorschach-like drawings
and a photograph of a classical male nude, highlighting
the fundamental theme of representation. Ending with
a bird’s-eye view of the avatar and room being absorbed
Video, projections, colour and
dramatically into a dark hole, the work can be read as an
sound (surround) allegory on the impossible ambition to represent the real.
Duration: 21 minutes, 51 seconds
Number 1 in an edition of 6, plus
3 artist’s proofs
This work joins Death Mask II: The Scent 2010 by Atkins in Tate’s
Presented by Tate Patrons 2016 collection, highlighting yet another aspect of his practice.
T14665
Previous page: Tape recordings of
the Destruction in Art Symposium
1966 by Frederic Hunter © Frederic Stills from Ed Atkins Hisser 2015
Hunter. Photo © Tate © Ed Atkins
14 15
Rosa Barba THE ARTIST
Born 1972 Born in Agrigento, Italy, Rosa Barba currently lives and
works in Berlin. Having studied at the Academy of Media
The Hidden Conference Arts Cologne, she took up a two-year residency at the
2010−15 Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam, and
received the Nam June Paik Award in 2010. Her work explores
About the Continuous History of the ontological status of film, through experimenting with its
Things We See and Don’t See 2010
physical characteristics and the apparatus utilised. Interested
A Fractured Play 2011
in the possibilities of unfolding time, Barba employs a
About the Shelf and Mantel 2015 sculptural approach to the medium, often rearranging its
elements to create new components for her installations.
Objects, interiors and landscapes are often filmed to draw
on the possibilities offered by fictitious narratives. Barba has
shown work at major film festivals, international biennials,
and in solo shows across the globe, including at Tate Modern.
T H E WO R K
The Hidden Conference 2010–15 is a three-part film
projection representing a key period in the artist’s career.
With the first two films being shot in the stores of the
Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, and Musei Capitolini, Rome,
respectively, and the third filmed in Tate Store, each attests
to various histories of ‘the collection’ and investigates
the status of artworks when not on display. The hidden
coexistence of the artworks within each collection are filmed
using a continually moving handheld camera. At times
the artworks from different eras mysteriously move on
invisible wheels, taking part in an evolving choreography
or a performed archive, and almost becoming characters
enlivened by murmurs and conversations. When shown
together the individual soundtracks, which feature dialogue
recalling excerpts from films, noises, environmental sounds,
rhythmic sequences and silence, constantly overlap,
producing a never-ending fluid soundscape. This questions
the apparently scientific and documentary approach of
these films, a common feature of Barba’s work. Additionally,
Film, 35 mm, 3 projections, colour Barba sees the film itself becoming a performer through
and sound (optical) the physical interaction between each individual projected
Duration: 32 minutes, 40 seconds
Number 1 in an edition of 5, plus 1 image and the screened environment.
artist’s proof
Purchased with funds provided by
Tate Patrons and Tate International
This work, which becomes the first of Barba’s to be
Council 2017 represented in the collection, was premiered at Tate Rosa Barba The Hidden Conference 2010–15
Installation views, Palazzo Cusani, Milan, 2015
T14842 Modern in May 2015. © Rosa Barba. Photos: Agostino Osio
16 17Duncan Campbell THE ARTIST
Born 1972 Born in Dublin, Ireland, video artist Duncan Campbell studied
at Ulster University and The Glasgow School of Art, and has
Sigmar 2008 been exhibited across Europe and the USA. In 2014 he was
winner of the Turner Prize for his video work It for Others 2013;
he was previously awarded the Baloise Art Prize in 2008, and
in 2013 represented Scotland at the 55th Venice Biennale.
Known for his cinematic collages combining archival footage,
photographs, interviews, animation and music to construct
portraits of his subjects, Campbell expands the scope of artistic
documentary practice and biographical representation.
T H E WO R K
Made shortly after Bernadette 2008, a documentary work on
the Irish political activist Bernadette Devlin in Tate’s collection,
Sigmar 2008 is a projected film that is intentionally more
abstract in approach. Eschewing action, concrete information,
subjective narration and critical reflection, Campbell presents
a distinct yet abstract portrait of Sigmar Polke (1941–2010),
a major twentieth-century artist. Using drawings by Polke
as a starting point, Campbell uses digital and stop-motion
animation, documentary footage and guitar music to construct
a ‘conversation’ between the two artists at an imaginary
encounter. A stylistically different portrait to Bernadette,
the camera traces the walls of a studio to focus on textures
and patterns from Polke’s paintings, while a male voice-over
mumbles negative German words, suggesting an element
of resistance on the part of Polke to participate. Campbell
initially knew little about the artist. The absence of extensive
research and archive material, and the employment of entirely
new footage, contrasts with his previous approach. The
prominence of a visual and abstract narrative is however
reflected in some of Campbell’s earlier works, and, in this
way, Sigmar 2008 exemplifies the artist’s continued exploration
of documentary form.
Sigmar 2008 was previously shown at Tate Britain in Campbell’s
Film, super 16 mm, projection, Turner Prize 2014 exhibit, while he is currently represented in
colour and sound (stereo)
Duration: 10 minutes Tate’s collection by the video work Bernadette 2008, which was
Number 3 in an edition of 6
presented by Tate Patrons in 2010.
Presented by Tate Patrons 2016
Stills from Duncan Campbell Sigmar 2008
T14813 © Duncan Campbell, courtesy Rodeo, London
18 19Abraham Cooper THE ARTIST
1787–1868 Abraham Cooper was a London-based painter particularly
known for his horse and equestrian portraits, and paintings
Rupert’s Standard at of historical subjects. Made an Associate of the Royal Academy,
Marston Moor c.1824 London, in 1817, he became a Royal Academician in 1820, for
which he was made eligible by a painting of Marston Moor,
different to that which is detailed below. Starting working life
at Astley’s Amphitheatre, London, run by his uncle, Cooper then
took up painting professionally under the encouragement of
his friend and early patron Sir Henry Meux. Meux commissioned
a picture of one of his horses and assisted in Cooper’s education,
during which time he attracted attention from major collectors.
Similarities can be seen in his work to history painter Sir Edwin
Henry Landseer.
T H E WO R K
Rupert’s Standard at Marston Moor c.1824 is a historical
battle picture depicting a defining encounter in the English
Civil War. Painted on a small cabinet scale and illustrating
the historicising trend within the British Romantic tradition,
Prince Rupert of the Rhine is shown riding a white charger
and wielding the Royal Standard at the Battle of Marston
Moor, 2 July 1644. Leading the Royalist cavalry, the Prince
had hoped to rescue York from the Parliamentarian army and
Scottish Covenanters under Oliver Cromwell and Lord Leven
who were besieging the city, although he eventually lost
what was the largest ever battle on British soil. This subject
resonated strongly with early nineteenth-century Anglo-French
society following the French Revolution, with other leading
cultural figures similarly highlighting this event in their work
during the following years. Among Cooper’s most ambitious
works, compositionally and academically, this was another
work painted for Sir Henry Meux, confirmed by a handwritten
label on the back of the panel dated 14 April 1868 and
signed by Meux.
Cooper is currently represented in Tate’s collection through
the respective sporting and equestrian paintings The Day Family
Oil paint on wooden panel
Support: 487 x 633 x 11 mm 1838 and Draught Horses 1828, and six prints of animal subjects.
Frame: 669 x 791 x 65 mm
This addition therefore illustrates a greater cross-section of
Presented by Tate Patrons 2016 his practice and the currently unrepresented Anglo-French
Abraham Cooper Rupert’s Standard at Marston Moor c.1824
T14637 historicism of the Romantic period. Photo © Tate
20 21Shezad Dawood THE ARTIST
Born 1974 Born in London, Shezad Dawood studied at Central St Martins
and the Royal College of Art, London, before receiving a PhD
Towards the Centre, in Fine Art from Leeds Metropolitan University. Using a range
Once More 2014 of media, including painting, film, sculpture and installation,
he draws on themes of mythological narrative, cultural
specificity and cross-cultural pollination. In recent years he
has staged solo exhibitions at Timothy Taylor, London, Galerist,
Istanbul, and Leeds Art Gallery. In 2011, he was awarded the
Abraaj Group Art Prize, which recognises contemporary Middle
Eastern, North African and South Asian artists.
T H E WO R K
One of his most ambitious works, Towards the Centre, Once More
2014 was initially conceived for exhibition at Sadler’s Wells,
London, as the first of their Visual Art Commission series run
in partnership with Tate. Inspired by his interest in contemporary
dance and Sadler’s Wells’s heritage, the work’s composition
is loosely based on a stage backdrop designed by Graham
Sutherland for choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton’s ballet
The Wanderer, premiered at Sadler’s Wells in 1941. The eight-part,
wall-based composition of abstract motifs is rendered in
screenprint and acrylic overlaid on a ground of traditional Ralli
textiles from Pakistan. Combining machine printing and hand-
stitching, the textiles were produced in the 1970s by nomadic
Saami hand-weavers of the Sindh province in response to the
growing post-colonial period textile industry, and signify the
resulting cultural cross-pollination and temporary utopian ideal.
The harmonies and colour intensities of the overlapping
abstract ellipses are seen as the visual equivalent of a musical
score or choreography, with the components alternately
mapping in and out from the centre, as the title suggests.
Dawood has devised several smaller configurations in which
the work can be displayed, acting to reinvigorate the work with
each new iteration and reflecting its kinetic possibilities.
Helping to explore recent tendencies in abstraction and the
contemporary use of paint, this is the first of Dawood’s works
Acrylic paint, screenprint and hand-
stitching on textile panels to enter Tate’s collection.
Overall display dimensions variable
Presented by Tate Patrons 2016
Shezad Dawood Towards the Centre, Once More 2014
T14647 © Shezad Dawood. Photo © Tate
22 23Simon Fujiwara THE ARTIST
Born 1982 Born in London, Simon Fujiwara is a British-Japanese artist
who studied architecture and fine art. Fujiwara became
The Mirror Stage internationally recognised for his early body of works,
2009–12 which traced his own identity as a multi-part auto-fiction,
a form of semi-fictionalised autobiography. His recent works
interrogate the construction of identity and are often seen
as a complex response to the increasing cultural fascination
with the self-presentation that new technologies offered to
his generation. Having exhibited internationally since 2007,
he was the subject of the 2012 Tate St Ives exhibition Simon
Fujiwara: Since 1982, which surveyed his recent work.
T H E WO R K
The Mirror Stage 2009–12 is a multi-part video installation
that represents the performance of Fujiwara’s life as fiction,
a recurrent theme in the artist’s work. Here Fujiwara re-stages
his first encounter with a modern artwork at Tate St Ives, aged
eleven, marking a pivotal moment in his life. Seeing Patrick
Heron’s Horizontal Stripe Painting : November 1957 – January 1958
1957–8 led Fujiwara on a path of personal discovery, realising
both that he wanted to be an artist and that he was homosexual.
The work’s title refers to how this encounter represented
Fujiwara’s own mirror stage, a term developed by French
psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan at which an infant first recognises
themselves in a mirror, a significant step in the development
of the self. In the film, the artist speaks with a child actor
playing his younger self to whom he explains this encounter
and its significance. Through a web of personal connections,
such as the relationship between Heron’s colour palette and
Fujiwara’s childhood IKEA duvet set, The Mirror Stage blends
memory, personal development, art history and commercialism
as one narrative, both factual and fictitious. Due to his initial
dissatisfaction with its first presentation, Fujiwara continued
developing the work, incorporating a script and television set
showing a recording of the evolving performance, before being
Video, colour and sound (stereo),
mirrored glass, replica painting,
exhibited at Tate St Ives in 2012.
posters, ironing board, bed frame,
mattress, sun-lounger, painted Simon Fujiwara The Mirror Stage 2009–12
rope and other materials Having a deep connection with Tate in this way and, through © Simon Fujiwara. Photo © Tate. Installation shot
Overall display dimensions variable of the work on display at Tate St Ives in 2012, also
the artist referencing numerous Tate collection works, this featuring Patrick Heron’s Horizontal Stripe Painting
Presented by Tate Patrons 2016 marks the important initial representation of the artist at Tate. : November 1957 – January 1958 1957–8 Tate © The
estate of Patrick Heron, and Francis Bacon Reclining
T14737 Woman 1961 Tate © Estate of Francis Bacon
24 25Peter Gidal THE ARTIST
Born 1946 Growing up in Switzerland and New York, Peter Gidal studied
at the Royal College of Art, London, where he subsequently
Hall 1968–9 taught Advanced Film Studies until 1984. Together with
Clouds 1969 Malcolm Le Grice, he became a driving force behind the London
Room Film 1973 1973 Film-makers’ Co-operative, where, as cinema programmer,
Volcano 2003 he focused on British artists and filmmakers. With his works
screened internationally, Gidal is equally well known as a writer
and theorist, particularly for his seminal book Structural Film
Anthology 1976. A key exponent of British structural cinema,
Gidal has exerted significant influence through his teaching
and films, receiving the Prix de la Recherche, Toulon, in 1974.
T H E WO R K
These four films represent key works in Gidal’s oeuvre,
highlighting his unique exploration of film and photography.
Hall 1968 –9 builds up from fragmented shots of the artist’s
hallway, with the rhythm and fleeting appearance of
objects eschewing a narrative and exploring the potential
to focus, direct and destabilise the viewer’s attention.
Clouds 1969, made while Gidal was a Royal College of Art
student, comprises looped footage of amorphous clouds, the
repetition confounding the viewer’s desire to identify with
an image, instead drawing attention to the material qualities
of the film. One of Gidal’s most celebrated works, Room
Film 1973 1973, captures fragments of a barely perceptible
interior. The camera’s eye takes no clear path, preventing a
Hall 1968–9 whole picture of the room from forming, exploring the limits
Film, 16mm, projection, black
and white, and sound of image legibility, and the tension between minimalist and
Duration: 10 minutes
T14784
abstract expressionist tendencies. Gidal’s later work Volcano
2003 meanwhile represents a culmination of his explorations
Clouds 1969
Film, 16mm, projection, black of filmic representation. Shot in Hawaii, it first captures
and white
Duration: 10 minutes the landscape in a characteristically unsteady manner,
T14785 before then filming photographs of the landscape, directly
Room Film 1973 1973 highlighting the relationship between filmic and photographic Clockwise from top left, stills from:
Film, 16mm, projection, colour
and sound representation, and the inevitable gaps in our perception of Peter Gidal Hall 1968–9
Duration: 55 minutes © Peter Gidal, London
T14786
time, space and depicted reality.
Peter Gidal Clouds 1969
Volcano 2003 © Peter Gidal, London
Film, 16mm, projection, colour With film a current collection priority at Tate, these first works
Duration: 25 minutes Peter Gidal Room Film 1973 1973
T14787 by Gidal to enter the collection illustrate his contribution to the © Peter Gidal, London
artistic film tradition and complement early film works at Tate
Purchased with assistance from Peter Gidal Volcano 2003
Tate Patrons 2016 by artists such as Bruce McLean and John Latham. © Peter Gidal, London
26 27John Sharkey Destruction in Art
The Destruction in Art T H E D E S T R U C T I O N I N A R T S YM P O S I U M Symposium official poster 1966
© John Sharkey
Symposium archive Organised by Gustav Metzger with assistance from John Sharkey,
material 1966 the Destruction in Art Symposium (DIAS) took place across
9 –11 September 1966 in London, and is recognised as a key
international gathering of happenings artists. Attracting significant
attention from the international and artistic community, a range
of happenings, poetry readings, discussions and performances
focused on the theme of destruction, and its prevalence
throughout society. Among the international participants,
including artists, poets, and scientists, were Jean-Jacques Lebel,
Henri Chopin, Werner Schreib, Al Hansen, Yoko Ono, Raphael
Montañez Ortiz, Otto Muehl and Hermann Nitsch.
T H E A R C H I V E M AT E R I A L
Seventeen tape recordings of DIAS were made by Frederic Hunter,
John Latham Skoob Tower event poster 1966
who was immersed in London’s alternative poetry and © John Latham Estate, courtesy
Lisson Gallery, London
countercultural scene. In the early 1960s Hunter co-founded
InterSoundRecords and recorded DIAS, producing a set of LP
records. These were thought lost, particularly given that a fire
claimed much of its stock in 1971. Uncovered in Hunter’s garage
following his death, these document the majority of the three-
day symposium. Recordings include discussions and readings
on topics such as definitions of art, action music and happenings,
destruction as creation, and man as self-destroying art, as well
as an outline of the Symposium by Gustav Metzger.
Two posters accompany these recordings, one designed as
the official poster by John Sharkey, and another by John Latham
Tape recordings of the Destruction
for his Skoob Tower event on 6 September 1966, which is, in Art Symposium 1966 by Frederic
Hunter © Frederic Hunter
in fact, believed not to have taken place.
Frederic Hunter tape recordings of
the Destruction in Art Symposium A distressed typewriter from Jean Toche’s Typewriter Destruction
(17 7inch reels of tape (16 one-
sided recorded at 1½ ips and 1
1966, performed and exhibited on 6 September 1966, also
two-sided 4-track recorded at becomes the third surviving sculptural relic from DIAS, joining
17/8 ips. Total running time: 13
hours and 50 minutes) two sculptures by Raphael Montañez Ortiz in Tate’s collection.
John Sharkey Destruction in Art
Symposium official poster 1966, DIAS material has long been a focus of Tate’s Archive. Following
745 x 495 mm
the acquisition of Tom Picton’s photographic records, Frederic
John Latham Skoob Tower event
poster 1966, 570 x 442 mm Hunter’s DIAS papers, the collection of Michael Gibbs and the
Jean Toche Typewriter Destruction
two sculptures by Ortiz, this material makes Tate’s representation
1966, 75 x 290 x 280 mm. T14684 of this pivotal event unrivalled, presenting huge research
Jean Toche Typewriter Destruction 1966
Presented by Tate Patrons 2016 opportunities, beyond reliance on participants’ memories. Photos © Tate © Jean Toche
28 29Anwar Jalal Shemza THE ARTIST
1928–1985 Born in Shimla, India, Anwar Jalal Shemza studied at Mayo
School of Art, Lahore, before moving to London in 1956 to study
Composition in Red at the Slade School of Fine Art. Having only intended to stay
and Green, Squares and during his studies, Shemza soon after returned to Britain,
Circles 1963 permanently settling in Stafford to teach. He enjoyed critical
success through a number of solo shows in London, notably
at New Vision Centre in 1958 and Gallery One in 1960, and as
part of the Pakistan Group London, whilst posthumously being
recognised in exhibitions at the Hayward Gallery, London, and
Birmingham City Museum. Tate Britain also celebrated the artist’s
work in a Spotlight display from October 2015 to November 2016.
T H E WO R K
Produced shortly after his return to Britain, Composition
in Red and Green, Squares and Circles 1963 depicts squares,
half-squares, circles and semi-circles dissecting both horizontally
and vertically. Painted in layers, colours are occasionally
revealed through the bold red, green and black surface layers.
An ongoing dialogue between eastern and western derived
scripts, forms and subjects is central to Shemza’s work and is
arguably rooted in his personal sense of displacement. Being
equally disassociated from Pakistan and Britain, his work can
be seen to transcend national boundaries. Simultaneously
possessing a rhythmic, calligraphic quality and the formalism
of modernist tendencies, the forms here are based on western
rather than Arabic scripture. Such a geometric preoccupation
is synonymous with his work from 1957 onwards, with the
semi-circle motif representative of the letters B and D similarly
evident in Chessmen One 1961, and the sinuous qualities of
Arabic script evident in Meem Two 1967, both in Tate’s collection.
Together with the two works mentioned above, Shemza is
also represented in Tate’s collection by another painting,
Oil paint on canvas Composition with Number Six 1966, and a print, Forms Emerging
Support: 911 x 720 x 18 mm
1967. This work therefore demonstrates his investigation of
Purchased with assistance from geometric formalism specifically based on western derived
Tate Patrons 2017
scripts, while further representing the importance of émigré
T14768
artists in post-war modernism, a current collection priority.
Opposite: Anwar Jalal Shemza
Composition in Red and Green,
Squares and Circles 1963
© Estate of Anwar Jalal Shemza
Photo © Tate
30 31Ronald Moody THE ARTIST
1900–1984 As a black British artist active before, during and after the
Second World War, Ronald Moody occupies a unique position
The Onlooker in British art history. Primarily working in direct carving and
1958–62 creating modernised figuration, Moody was influenced by
non-western art, alongside the likes of Henry Moore, Barbara
Hepworth and John Skeaping. Works he made before the
Second World War are rare as he was forced to abandon
his Paris studio to escape the German occupation, sending
works to America for exhibition and to the studio of a fellow
artist in Paris. Continuing to work after this relocation, Moody
contributed to a number of BBC broadcasts in the 1950s on the
history of art and the role of the artist in society. His sculptures
are today held in numerous public collections worldwide.
T H E WO R K
Having made a number of medium-scale carvings in the
1950s, The Onlooker 1958–62 is the only work of his late period
not held in private collections. Carved from the teak wood
of a ship’s fender, a hardwood block floated on London’s River
Thames to act as a buffer between the barges and wharves,
Moody depicts a crouching, compact figure in a protective
stance. With large ears and stump-like feet, the visibly hewn
figure is highly stylised and sits on a rough base carved from
the same block of wood. In contrast to some of his pre-war
carvings, this sculpture exudes a less idealised expression,
appearing firmly rooted in the mundane. Gargoyle-like and
with a fixed outwards gaze, it can be considered as an
autobiographic visualisation of the artist’s role in society.
This work has been displayed internationally, including at
Tate Britain and Tate Liverpool between 2003 and 2004.
Moody is represented in Tate’s collection by three other
works, Johanaan 1936, Midonz 1937 and Unknown Political
Prisoner 1953, as well as through the artist’s papers and
Teak research material. The Onlooker 1958–62 expands the period
Object: 622 x 343 x 390 mm of his practice previously represented in the collection and
Presented by Tate Patrons 2016 highlights the importance of traditionally overlooked émigré
T14654 artists within modernism.
Opposite: Ronald Moody
The Onlooker 1958–62
© The estate of Ronald Moody
Photo © Tate
32 33Marie Yates THE ARTIST
Born 1940 Marie Yates grew up in Manchester before moving to
St Ives, where from 1962 she exhibited as part of the Penrith
Field Working Paper Society of Arts. She subsequently moved to London to study,
7 – 26th April 1972 – becoming an associate of and exhibiting with the Artist
Porthmeor Beach, St.Ives, Placement Group (APG). Throughout the 1970s and 80s
Cornwall 1972, printed she exhibited widely, with her work from this period recently
2016 being rediscovered. Yates’s work represents a significant
alternative take on performance-based and conceptual
Image/woman/text approaches to representation by a female artist.
1979
T H E WO R K
In Field Working Paper 7 – 26th April 1972 – Porthmeor Beach,
St.Ives, Cornwall 1972, six colour photographs document
an ephemeral installation made of wooden sticks, stones
and white string arranged on a beach, as it gets submerged
and rearranged by the incoming tide, while three black and
white prints describe the location, weather and process followed.
This combination highlights the processes of the real experience,
the documentation, and the retrospective presentation,
exploring the interplay between time, space, perception and
representation. Part of the Field Working Paper series, which
documented ‘dialogues’ with rural and coastal areas, the
considerably degraded original vintage prints are included
here with the recent reprint by the artist.
Signalling Yates’s mature and direct engagement with social
and feminist causes, Image/woman/text 1979 was made for
Issue: Social Strategies by Women Artists at the ICA, London,
in 1980. Two wooden boards feature the same twenty portraits
of women. On the left, paint and tissue paper reduce their
legibility, while on the right are high gloss finish and colour
Field Working Paper 7 – 26th April
1972 – Porthmeor Beach, St.Ives,
reproductions typical of 1970s magazine advertisements.
Cornwall 1972, printed 2016 Partially folded, aspects of each portrait are concealed, revealing
9 photographs, C-prints on paper
Image, each: 242 x 375 mm how little information is needed to recognise the subjects’
T14748
gender. Superimposed text on the right panel meanwhile
Image/woman/text 1979
Photographs on paper, typewritten
highlights issues of the representation of women, and the hidden
text on paper, tissue paper, plastic relationship between author, viewer, advertising and media.
sheets, acrylic paint and transfer
script on 2 panels
Support, each: 1240 x 1240 mm
T14749
Yates was previously unrepresented in Tate’s collection, so these
works will help better show approaches to conceptual practices,
Presented by Tate Patrons 2017 Marie Yates Image/woman/text 1979
feminism, the landscape, and the representation of identity. © Marie Yates
34 35Marie Yates Field Working Paper 7 – 26th April 1972 –
Porthmeor Beach, St.Ives, Cornwall 1972, printed 2016
© Marie Yates
Photos © Tate
36 37E XHIBITIONS YOU H ELPED STAGE 38 39
Conceptual Art in Britain I N T E R V I E W WI T H : A N D R E W WI L S O N
1964–1979 S E N I O R C U R ATO R , M O D E R N A N D CO N T E M P O R A R Y
BRITISH ART AND ARCHIVES
Tate Britain
12 April – Q: How important is it to continue to re-evaluate the significance
29 August 2016 and impact of conceptual art on the artistic practices of today?
A: The moment of conceptual art, between the mid-1960s
and late-1970s, describes a hinge between what we understand
as modern and contemporary art of the last twenty-five years.
Proposing new ways of thinking about what art is, how it is
made and what it is for, it presented a re-engagement with
the realities of the everyday as much as a reversal of formalist
modernist art. While art of today is often identified as conceptual
art, which in many ways is a mistake and a generalisation,
it provides recognition that without these radical shifts, art
of today would be very different.
Q: With some of the works in the show arguably being quite
challenging, how did you go about presenting these in an
accessible way for a diverse audience?
A: Despite its ubiquity, conceptual art can be a challenging
term, defining a challenging art that placed the ‘idea’ over the
material ‘object’, encouraging a critical engagement with the
concept of art itself. How to present its history was therefore
a key question. The exhibition presented a dialogue between
looking and reading, to encourage an accessible way of thinking
about and understanding the variety of works presented.
Q: What was your personal highlight of the show and what
impact do you think the show has had?
Conceptual Art in Britain 1964–1979
at Tate Britain was supported by
Tate Patrons
A: One aspect of the show was the significance of the Tate Gallery
Curated by Andrew Wilson, as a supporter of conceptual art in Britain during this period.
Senior Curator, Modern and
Contemporary British Art and Being almost wholly drawn from Tate’s collection, archive and
Archives, with Carmen Juliá,
former Assistant Curator, library, this exhibition was a testament to proactive support Installation shots of Conceptual Bottom: Featuring John Hilliard
Contemporary British Art by then director Sir Norman Reid. The gallery was seen as a Art in Britain 1964–1979. Photos Camera Recording its Own Condition
© Tate (Joe Humphrys) (7 Apertures, 10 Speeds, 2 Mirrors)
Previous page: Patrons tour of nurturing venue for the movement, typified by American artist 1971 Tate © John Hilliard.
Robert Rauschenberg in January Top: Featuring Roelof Louw Soul Presented by Colin St John Wilson
2017, featuring Triathlon (Scenario) Sol LeWitt’s Area of London between the Lisson Gallery, the Nigel City (Pyramid of Oranges) 1967 1980 (left) and Keith Arnatt’s
2005, Robert Rauschenberg Tate © Roelof Louw. Presented Self-Burial (Television Interference
Foundation © Robert
Greenwood Gallery and the Tate Gallery 1977, a triangle removed by Tate Patrons 2013 Project) 1969 Tate © Keith Arnatt
Rauschenberg Foundation, New from a London atlas whose points mark the locations of the Estate. All rights reserved. DACS
York. All Rights Reserved. Photo © 2016. Presented by Westdeutsches
Tate (Ana Escobar) three galleries, rooting Tate in this history. Fernsehen 1973 (right)
40 41Painting with Light: I N T E R V I E W WI T H : C A R O L JACO B I
Art and Photography C U R ATO R , B R I T I S H A R T, 1850 –1915
from the Pre-Raphaelites
to the Modern Age Q: What were the main links between early photography and
British art that you wished to highlight in this exhibition?
Tate Britain
11 May – A: Working on bringing more historic photography to Tate Britain
25 September 2016 was an unmissable opportunity to question the received wisdom
that photographers and artists kept their distance, especially
in Britain. Artists have always worked with all the pictorial
technologies available so it was no surprise to find many painters
and photographers were interested in each other. There were
collaborations between close friends and colleagues, shared
models and subjects, and reciprocal commissions.
Q: Covering a seventy-five year period, across the Victorian and
Edwardian ages, which saw great advancements in photography
and British art, how did you thematically focus the exhibition?
A: The first photographers inevitably looked to painting for
ideas, so it made sense to start in the 1840s with David Octavius
Hill, J.M.W. Turner and Robert Adamson, the first painter to use
Painting with Light: Art and
Photography from the Pre- photographs for preparatory studies. The exhibition then fell
Raphaelites to the Modern Age at naturally into two phases. The first featured Pre-Raphaelite artists
Tate Britain was supported by
Tate Patrons and pioneer photographers looking at the same landscapes,
Curated by Dr Carol Jacobi, exploring new effects of light and figuration to achieve a
Curator, British Art, 1850–1915,
Tate, and Dr Hope Kingsley,
sensitivity to appearance and movement. The second saw a
Curator, Education and reaction to this, as painters and photographers searched for ways
Collections, Wilson Centre for
Photography, with Tim Batchelor, to suggest an imaginative world of thought, mystery and beauty.
Assistant Curator, British Art,
1550–1750, Tate
Opposite: Installation shots
Q: What was your personal highlight of the show and what
of Painting with Light: Art and impact do you think the show has had?
Photography from the Pre-
Raphaelites to the Modern Age
Photos © Tate
A: The exhibition succeeded in establishing that photography
Top: Featuring Dante Gabriel and painting were intimately related from the outset and received
Rossetti Proserpine 1874 Tate,
presented by W. Graham 4* and 5* reviews. I was also proud that, despite being a historic
Robertson 1940 (left) and
Zaida Ben-Yusuf The Odor of show, six of the thirty artists represented were women and
Pomegranates 1899, published it was possible to view the leading figure, Julia Margaret
1901 Tate (right)
Cameron, in an artistic and photographic context. My highlight,
Bottom: Featuring George Frederic
Watts May Prinsep c.1867–9, Watts however, was the pairing used on the exhibition poster, Zaida
Gallery (left) and Julia Margaret
Cameron May Prinsep, Study No.9
Ben-Yusuf’s self-portrait, The Odor of Pomegranates 1899, a riposte
1870, The Royal Photographic to Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s Proserpine 1874, evoking temptation
Society Collection at the National
Media Museum, Bradford (right) and choice rather than entrapment and regret.
42 43Georgia O’Keeffe I N T E R V I E W WI T H : AC H I M B O R C H A R DT- H U M E
D I R E C TO R O F E X H I B I T I O N S , TAT E M O D E R N
Tate Modern
6 July – Q: Given that no works by Georgia O’Keeffe are held in public
30 October 2016 collections in the UK, how did you go about sourcing works for
the show and what challenges did this present?
A: Sourcing works for the exhibition presented various
challenges. Firstly, there are no works in UK collections, few
in Europe, and in North America they are widely geographically
dispersed. Secondly, in US museums, O’Keeffe’s works traditionally
are part of the American, rather than International Modern Art,
departments with which we historically have less developed
networks. We therefore built countless new, and strengthened
existing, relationships with other institutions, private collectors and
the Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation, who were incredibly supportive.
Q: A century after her debut, how did you approach showing the
diversity of O’Keeffe’s practice in this exhibition, beyond what is
widely known about her work, and how important was this?
A: Tate has a strong commitment to strengthening the
representation of women artists within the history of modern and
contemporary art. O’Keeffe was nothing if not an independent-
minded, hugely inventive and strongly willed artist. With her work
often best known through reproductions, most notably her iconic
flower works, we wanted to show the true breadth of her practice,
incorporating cityscapes, landscapes and abstract compositions,
as well as her dialogue with European modern art, other artists
such as Marsden Hartley and, crucially, photography.
Q: What was your personal highlight of the show and what impact
do you think the show has had?
Georgia O’Keeffe at Tate Modern A: The main reason for making exhibitions is to enable works
was supported by Art Mentor
Foundation Lucerne with additional to be experienced in close groupings. Rarely has this been more
support from the Georgia O'Keeffe
Exhibition Supporters Group and relevant here, with even those very familiar with O’Keeffe making
Tate Patrons many new discoveries. My highlight was her cityscapes, which Installation shots of Georgia O'Keeffe Bottom: Featuring Jimson Weed/
© 2017 Georgia O'Keeffe Museum/ White Flower No.1 1932, Crystal
Curated by Tanya Barson, Curator, were particularly hard to borrow due to their rarity and importance. DACS, London. Photos © Tate Bridges Museum of American Art,
Tate Modern, with Hannah Arkansas, USA
Johnston, Assistant Curator, Generally imagined as an old woman living in the vast New Top: Featuring Abstraction White
International Art. The exhibition Rose 1927, Georgia O’Keeffe
was organised by Tate in
Mexico landscape, who would have thought of her as a young Museum, Santa Fe (left) and New
collaboration with Bank Austria woman moving into a newly built Manhattan skyscraper? York Street with Moon 1925, Museo
Thyssen-Bornemisza (Madrid,
Kunstforum, Vienna and the Art
Gallery of Ontario, Toronto Clearly a spirit of adventure stayed with her all her life. Spain) (right)
44 45Paul Nash I N T E R V I E W WI T H : E M M A C H A M B E R S
C U R ATO R , M O D E R N B R I T I S H A R T
Tate Britain
26 October 2016 – Q: Coinciding with the recent centenary of the First World War,
5 March 2017 how did this exhibition explore the way Paul Nash’s personal
experiences of the war influenced his work? Additionally, what
impact did his work have on British art?
A: Thanks to the generosity of the Imperial War Museum we
were able to bring together Nash’s major war paintings: We Are
Making a New World 1918 and The Menin Road 1919. Throughout
the 1920s he was particularly influenced by his war experiences
and the paintings he made at Dymchurch, Kent, explore ideas of
threat and defence as the sea sweeps against geometric coastal
defences reminiscent of trenches. Nash was a key figure in
promoting British modernism in the 1930s. Becoming a leading
British surrealist artist, he developed a new visual language,
exploring the coexistence of multiple realities.
Q: How did Tate’s broad archive of Nash’s personal material
help further our understanding of the artist and the work
he produced? Furthermore, how did you go about creating a
balance between this archive material and works in the show?
A: Nash’s archive allowed us to explore the ideas behind
his work through his writings, photographs and letters. It was
particularly useful in examining Nash’s work with collage and
found objects. Many of the works themselves don’t survive,
but we were able to bring together the found objects and
photographs that Nash used to make them.
Q: What was your personal highlight of the show and what
impact do you think the show has had?
A: I was fascinated by Nash’s use of found objects in the
1930s. The painting Event on the Downs 1934 juxtaposes two
Installation shots of Paul Nash Middle: Featuring Totes Meer (Dead
small objects with one of his favourite landscapes, the cliffs Photos © Tate (Mark Heathcote) Sea) 1940 –1 Tate, presented by the
of Ballard Head near Swanage. Enlarging the objects to the War Artists Advisory Committee
Paul Nash at Tate Britain was Top: Featuring Winter Sea 1925 –37, 1946 (left) and Battle of Germany
supported by the Paul Nash scale of megaliths in an ‘imaginative encounter’, he creates York Museums Trust (York Art 1944, Imperial War Museum Cat.
Exhibition Supporters Group Gallery) (left), The Shore 1923, Leeds Number Art.IWM ART LD 4526
and Tate Patrons a wonderful sense of mystery. I hope the show has given Museums and Galleries (Leeds Art (right)
Gallery) (middle), and Dymchurch
Curated by Emma Chambers, people a fresh perception of Nash beyond his war art and Steps 1924 – 44, National Gallery of Bottom: Event on the Downs 1934,
Curator, Modern British Art, and landscapes to encompass his lesser known symbolist Canada, Ottawa, gift of the Massey UK Government Art Collection
Inga Fraser, Assistant Curator, Collection of English Painting, 1946 (GAC). Photo © UK Government Art
Modern British Art drawings, surrealist sculpture and use of photography. (right) Collection
46 47Robert Rauschenberg I N T E R V I E W WI T H :
C AT H E R I N E WO O D, S E N I O R C U R ATO R , I N T E R N AT I O N A L
Tate Modern A R T ( P E R F O R M A N C E ), A N D F I O N TÁ N M O R A N ,
1 December 2016 – A S S I S TA N T C U R ATO R
2 April 2017
Q: Robert Rauschenberg is a significant figure in the development
of modern art and is well known by many. How did this exhibition
elaborate on, or challenge, what might already be known about
the artist, and how did you develop it so that both a specialist
and general audience would discover new aspects of his practice?
A: The exhibition was the first retrospective since Rauschenberg’s
death in 2008, which enabled us to consider the entire breadth
of his career and draw out specific ways in which he worked.
While the exhibition followed a more or less chronological hang,
it attempted to emphasise recurrent themes in his practice
such as collaboration, performance and time. By representing
significant moments from throughout his career the exhibition
helped to place well-known works in context.
Q: This show was the result of a collaboration between Tate and
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York. How did this
collaboration come about and how did this impact this exhibition?
A: The last Rauschenberg retrospective in the UK took place in 1981,
which made the prospect of a new exhibition a priority. In order to
stage such an ambitious project it was essential to partner with an
Robert Rauschenberg was institution that was equally committed to presenting Rauschenberg’s
presented at Tate Modern.
Global Sponsor Bank of America work. We approached MoMA, who proved to be ideal collaborators,
Merrill Lynch, Supporting Sponsor
Tiffany & Co. and supported by providing us with essential support in getting key loans for the
Terra Foundation for American project and a network within which to discuss ideas.
Art and Art Mentor Foundation
Lucerne, with additional support
from the Robert Rauschenberg Installation shots of Robert
Exhibition Supporters Group, Q: What was your personal highlight of the show and what Rauschenberg © Robert
Tate Americas Foundation and Rauschenberg Foundation, New
Tate Patrons
impact do you think the show has had? York. All Rights Reserved. Photos
© Tate (Andrew Dunkley, Marcus
Curated by Achim Borchardt-Hume, Leith and Seraphina Neville)
Director of Exhibitions, Tate A: There were many highlights, including bringing together many
Modern, and Leah Dickerman, Top: Featuring Tracer 1963, The Bottom: Featuring Monogram
the Marlene Hess Curator of of Rauschenberg’s early works and his important Combines, which Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1955–59, Moderna Museet,
Painting and Sculpture, The Kansas City, Missouri, Purchase: Stockholm, Purchased 1965
Museum of Modern Art, New
are very fragile and rarely travel. The exhibition seemed to remind Nelson Gallery Foundation (left), with contribution from Moderna
York, with Catherine Wood, visitors of the sheer breadth and level of experimentation in Retroactive II 1964, Collection, Museets Vänner/The Friends of
Senior Curator, International Art Museum of Contemporary Art Moderna Museet
(Performance), Tate Modern, and Rauschenberg’s practice, and his active desire to consider and Chicago, partial gift of Stefan T.
Fiontán Moran and Juliette Rizzi, Edlis and H. Gael Neeson (middle),
Assistant Curators, Tate Modern.
bring the modern world around him into his art. This is something and Estate 1963, Philadelphia
Museum of Art, gift of the Friends
The exhibition was organised by that seems to resonate with many artistic practices today, which of the Philadelphia Museum of
Tate Modern and The Museum of
Modern Art, New York made the exhibition all the more timely. Art (right)
48 49David Hockney I N T E R V I E W WI T H : A N D R E W WI L S O N
S E N I O R C U R ATO R , M O D E R N A N D CO N T E M P O R A R Y
Tate Britain BRITISH ART AND ARCHIVES
9 February –
29 May 2017 Q: What were the challenges in staging a retrospective of
David Hockney’s career, especially given that the artist has
had a number of exhibitions in London in recent years, and
how did you distil his prolific practice?
A: While there have been many exhibitions of Hockney’s recent
work, this was the first to survey his sixty-year career. Having
been prolific in many different media, the prospect of structuring
the retrospective was daunting. While it largely followed a
chronological sequence, the first room brought together works
from different periods. This introduced a way of approaching
Hockney’s work, identifying his principal obsession of using
picture-making to look profoundly at the world, subverting
pictorial conventions, and emphasising the theatricality and
artifice inherent in two-dimensional representation.
Q: A number of rooms in the exhibition were dedicated to the
artist’s most recent output, including his video works and iPad
drawings. What was your approach to positioning these within
Hockney’s wider practice and our understanding of his work?
A: Being visually and intellectually curious, Hockney is unafraid
to adopt new technologies, having been enthralled by the
printmaking studio at the Royal College of Art, just as in 2010
he began using an iPad the week it was launched. The tablet and
video works at the end of the show, alongside recent paintings
of his Hollywood Hills home, demonstrate a ceaseless drive to
interrogate and communicate new ways of seeing the world.
David Hockney at Tate Britain was
sponsored by the Blavatnik Family
Foundation with additional support
from the David Hockney Exhibition
Q: What was your personal highlight of the show and what
Supporters Circle, Tate International impact do you think the show has had?
Council and Tate Patrons
Curated by Chris Stephens, former Installation shots of David Hockney
Head of Displays and Lead Curator, A: My personal highlight was the exhibition itself. Hockney © David Hockney. Photos © Tate
Modern British Art, and Andrew (Joe Humphrys)
Wilson, Senior Curator, Modern
is the most popular living British artist, having made some
Top: Featuring Peter Getting Out Bottom: Featuring The Four Seasons,
and Contemporary British Art of the most recognisable images. Because so many of his paintings of Nick’s Pool 1966, National Woldgate Woods (Spring 2011,
and Archives, with Helen Little,
former Assistant Curator. The are held in private or museum collections, his works are often Museums Liverpool, Walker Art Summer 2010, Autumn 2010, Winter
exhibition was organised by Tate Gallery, presented by Sir John 2010) 2010 –2011, private collection
Britain in collaboration with the
known only through reproductions. Therefore, despite their Moores 1968 (left), A Bigger Splash
1967 Tate, purchased 1981 (middle),
Centre Pompidou, Paris, and The popularity, there have been few opportunities to appreciate the and A Lawn Being Sprinkled 1967,
Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York full complexities of his work. private collection (right)
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