Tate Britain

Drawing for Free Thinking is a new wall drawing for Tate Britain, designed to wrap around the Manton stairwell. Inspired by the long tradition of twentieth-century constructivism and by David Tremlett’s involvement in conceptual art in the 1970s, Drawing for Free Thinking consists of broad blocks of strong colour, straight lines, squares and rectangles. It explores floor plans and architectural features the artist has encountered at the gallery such as doorways or windows abstracted into geometric shapes. Tremlett and his team of assistants work with pastel crayons which they rub directly onto the wall with the palms of their hands.

Admission

Website

http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/david-tremlett-drawing-free-thinking

Ruin Lust

• 4 March 2013 — 18 May 2014 *on now

Ruin Lust, an exhibition at Tate Britain from 4 March 2013, will offer a guide to the mournful, thrilling, comic and perverse uses of ruins in art from the seventeenth century to the present day. The exhibition is the widest-ranging on the subject to date and will include over 100 works by artists such as JMW Turner, John Constable, John Martin, Eduardo Paolozzi, Rachel Whiteread and Tacita Dean.

The exhibition begins in the midst of the craze for ruins that overtook artists, writers and architects in the eighteenth century. JMW Turner and John Constable were among those who toured Britain in search of ruins and picturesque landscapes, producing works such as Turner’s Tintern Abbey: The Crossing and Chancel, Looking towards the East Window 1794, and Constable’s Sketch for ‘Hadleigh Castle’ c.1828-9.

This ruinous heritage has been revisited – and sometimes mocked – by later artists such as Keith Arnatt, who photographed the juxtaposition of historic and modern elements at picturesque sites for his deadpan series A.O.N.B. (Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty) 1982-4, and John Latham whose sculpture Five Sisters Bing 1976, which was part of a project to turn post-industrial shale heaps in Scotland into monuments. Classical ruins have a continued presence in the work of Eduardo Paolozzi, Ian Hamilton Finlay and John Stezaker. Works such as Rachel Whiteread’s Demolished - B: Clapton Park Estate 1996, show Modernist architectural dreams destroyed with the demolition of Hackney tower blocks.
The exhibition will explore ruination through both slow picturesque decay and abrupt apocalypse. John Martin’s The Destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum 1822 recreates historical disaster while Gustave Doré’s engraving The New Zealander 1872 shows a ruined London. The cracked dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral in the distance was a scene partly realised during the Blitz.
Ruin Lust will include work provoked by the wars of the twentieth century, including Graham Sutherland’s Devastation series 1940-1, which depicts the aftermath of the Blitz and Jane and Louise Wilson’s 2006 photographs of the Nazis’ defensive Atlantic Wall. Paul Nash’s photographs of surreal fragments in the 1930s and 40s, or Jon Savage’s images of a desolate London in the late 1970s show how artists also view ruins as zones of pure potential, where the world must be rebuilt or reimagined.

The exhibition will include rooms devoted to Tacita Dean and Gerard Byrne. Dean’s nostalgic film installation Kodak 2006 explores the ruin of the image, as the technology of 16 mm film becomes obsolescent. In 1984 and Beyond 2005–7, Byrne reimagines a future that might have been. The installation presents a re-enactment of a discussion, published in Playboy in 1963, in which science fiction writers – including Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke – speculate about what the world might be like in 1984.

This transhistorical exhibition is curated by writer and critic Brian Dillon; Emma Chambers, Curator of Modern British Art; and Amy Concannon, Assistant Curator of British Art, 1790–1850. It will be accompanied by a book and a programme of talks and events in the gallery.

Admission

Website

http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/ruin-lust

Keith Arnatt was a British conceptual artist who used photography as a way of documenting perfromative acts that question the status of art and the role of the artist. Using recent acquisitions, this display will show the range of Arnatt’s work and his singular use of photography, focusing on his work of the 1970s and 1980s.

Suitable for

Admission

Fish Story – Chapter 8: Dismal Science 1989–92 comprises 80 colour slides documenting spaces of transit, trade and dereliction in Newcastle and Glasgow, the great ship-building cities of the first and second British industrial revolutions.

Admission

Website

http://www.tate.org.uk

Between 1973 and 1975 artists Margaret Harrison, Kay Hunt and Mary Kelly conducted a detailed study of women working in a factory in Bermondsey.

Paired with the Pankhurst room, this installation tells the stories of over 150 women who participated in the project.

Admission

This display showcases the work of Sylvia Pankhurst, campaigner for women’s suffrage and daughter to Emmeline Pankhurst.

Highlights include badges, flyers and banners, a series of paintings showing Women Workers of England, and works made during her imprisonment in 1906.

Admission

Website

http://www.tate.org.uk

The three-screen installation, The Unfinished Conversation investigates identity, ethnicity and the nature of memory.

After premiering at the Liverpool Biennial 2012, the video installation has been edited into a single screen and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2013.

Admission

Website

http://www.tate.org.uk

The Age of Innocence is on display for the first time since the 1970s following restoration by Tate’s conservation department. This display will illustrate the cleaning and restoration of the painting, and showcase the discoveries made about the history of the painting during its conservation.

Website

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/reynolds-the-age-of-innocence-n00307

This display shows three photographic series by the British photographer Chris Shaw, produced from the 1980s to the present, alongside a selection of works by the Japanese photographer Daido Moriyama from the early 1970s.

Admission

Website

http://www.tate.org.uk

With sections focusing on ceilings, stairs and domes, this display showcases a range of preparatory sketches for paintings inside such building as Marlborough House, Chatsworth and St Paul’s Cathedral.

Admission

Website

http://www.tate.org.uk

Richard Deacon

• 5 February — 27 April 2014 *on now

Tate Britain presents a major exhibition of the work of Turner Prize winner Richard Deacon (born 1949), a leading British sculptor who first achieved international recognition in the early 1980s.

Consisting of approximately forty works, this chronological survey includes large, mid-scale and small sculptures shown alongside a series of important drawings. The show celebrates his innovative use of form as well as his interest in working with a diverse range of materials.

This exhibition is curated by Clarrie Wallis, Curator, Modern and Contemporary British Art with Sofia Karamani, Assistant Curator, Contemporary British Art. It will be accompanied by a book on the artist and a programme of talks and events in the gallery.

Suitable for

• Any age

Admission

Website

http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/richard-deacon

Tate Britain Commission 2014: Phyllida Barlow

• 31 March — 2 November 2014

Sculptor Phyllida Barlow will unveil her largest and most ambitious work in London to date for the Tate Britain Commission 2014, supported by Sotheby’s, on 31 March 2014. The annual commission invites artists to make work in response to Tate’s collection of British and international art and to the grand spaces of the Duveen Galleries at the heart of Tate Britain.

For over four decades Phyllida Barlow has made imposing, large scale sculptural installations using inexpensive, everyday materials such as cardboard, fabric, timber, polystyrene, plaster, scrim and cement. Her distinctive work is focused on her experimentation with these materials, to create bold and colourful three-dimensional collages.

Drawing on memories of familiar objects from her surroundings, Barlow’s tactile and seemingly unstable sculptures often contrast with the permanence and traditions of monumental sculpture.

Suitable for

• Any age

Website

http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/tate-britain-commission-2014-phyllida-barlow

Kenneth Clark

• 20 May — 10 August 2014

This exhibition explores the impact of art historian, public servant and broadcaster Kenneth Clark (1903–1983), widely seen as one of the most influential figures in British art of the twentieth century.

Clark’s role as a patron and collector, art historian, public servant and broadcaster is explored and celebrated, along with his contribution to bringing art in the twentieth century to a more popular audience.

The exhibition focuses predominantly on Clark’s activities in the 1930s and 1940s when he was a leading supporter and promoter of contemporary British art and artists. Using his own wealth to help artists, Clark would not only buy works from those he admired but also provides financial support to allow them to work freely, offered commissions, and worked to ensure artists’ works entered prestigious collections.

Suitable for

• Any age

Website

http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/kenneth-clark

British Folk Art

• 10 June — 7 September 2014

Folk Art is an established subject in many countries; however in Britain the genre remains elusive. Rarely considered in the context of art history, ‘Folk art’ has been viewed as part of social history or folklore studies. This show unites an extraordinary selection of objects, exploring the threshold between art and artefact and challenging perceptions of ’high art’.

The exhibition includes surprising and diverse examples of British folk art, from rustic leather Toby jugs to brightly coloured ships’ figureheads and highly-accomplished carousel horses. The imposing larger than life-size thatched figure of King Alfred created by a master thatcher, Joseph Myatt, in 1960 is just one of the highlights of the exhibition.

While much Folk Art is anonymous, this exhibition also presents works by a number of prominent individuals. Amongst these key figures are George Smart the tailor of Frant, eminent embroiderer Mary Linwood, ship carver and fairground artist Arthur Andersen and Cornish painter Alfred Wallis.

Suitable for

• Any age

Admission

Website

http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/british-folk-art

Late Turner: Painting Set Free

• 10 September 2014 — 25 January 2015

Late Turner: Painting Set Free reassesses Turner’s extraordinary body of work during his final period (1835–50) when some of his most celebrated works were created.

Beginning in 1835, the year that Turner reached 60, and closing with his last exhibits at the Royal Academy in 1850, the exhibition demonstrates how his closing years were a time of exceptional energy and vigour, initiated by one of his most extensive tours of Europe. Bringing together 150 works from the UK and abroad, it seeks to challenge assumptions around the idea of the ‘elderly’ artist, as well as his radical techniques, processes and materials during this productive time.

Featuring many large-scale oil paintings alongside drawings, prints and watercolour, the exhibition addresses the sheer range of materials and techniques he embraced. The show also includes such iconic works as Ancient Rome; Agrippina Landing with the Ashes of Germanicus exh. 1839, The Wreck Buoy 1849 and Heidelberg: Sunset c.1840 (Manchester City Galleries).

Suitable for

• Any age

Website

http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/late-turner-painting-set-free

To coincide with the re-opening of Tate Britain In November 2013, Tate will launch a major survey of recent artists’ film and video work in Britain to celebrate this internationally acclaimed work made over the last five years in this vibrant and expanding field.

The survey will comprise a series of screenings in the Clore Auditorium and evenings of expanded film and performance in the River Room, followed by discussions with speakers and artists.

The survey is based on contributions from 30 international leading specialists invited to nominate up to ten works they regard as outstanding from the last five years.

The survey will draw out different themes, approaches and contested issues around this influential area of practice.

Admission

Website

http://www.tate.org.uk

COMMON PROJECTS: Call for participants for new teachers' group, Tate Modern and Tate Britain

• 25 March 2014 5-8pm
• 13 May 2014 5-8pm
• 8 July 2014 5-8pm
• 16 September 2014 5-8pm
• 11 November 2014 5-8pm

Tate London Schools and Teachers team are inviting a group of 10-15 teachers to work with us, alongside artists, curators and educators, to form a collaborative community of shared practice. Through a series of conversations, workshops and interventions, Common Projects will develop an ongoing dialogue around art and education, where multiple voices, ideas and approaches are held in one room.

If you are interested in joining Common Projects please send a statement of interest, no longer than 250 words detailing why you would like to be part of the group and what you would like to contribute.

Please include your name, role and school. We welcome applications from teachers from all types of school settings and levels of experience including trainee teachers.

We are interested in teachers who:

- Have an interest in sharing their practice
- Have a desire to discuss current issues and debates in art and education in a group environment
- Are able to commit to six sessions across the academic term
- Are able to commit to one Tate London Schools and Teachers CPD event; (bursary place awarded)
- Have an appetite to participate in relevant events outside of six required sessions

2014 Session Dates

1. Monday 17 February - 10.00-14.00 including lunch
2. Tuesday 25 March - 17.00-20.00
3. Tuesday 13 May - 17.00-20.00
4. Tuesday 8 July - 17.00-20.00
5. Tuesday 16 September - 17.00-20.00
6. Tuesday 11 November - 17.00-20.00

Admission

Reading Ruins

• 7 March — 4 April 2014 *on now

We often think of our cities and towns as machines for living and working in, only seeing their real workings when these tools break. This five-week course explores the built environment’s broken tools through British art and literature’s long and illustrious love affair with ruins. Why, in a period of such intense newness as the 21st century, do we lust more than ever after these symbols of disappearance and loss?

With special after-hours access to Tate Britain’s newly refurbished and re-hung galleries and the exhibition Ruin Lust, Reading Ruins examines works by artists from J.M.W. Turner and John Martin to Rachel Whiteread and Tacita Dean. We will complement our ‘reading’ of these artworks with work by writers who have explored ruins as both an idea and a reality – from romantic poets and 20th-century experimentalists to today’s crop of psychogeographers: Byron and Wordsworth to Iain Sinclair and Laura Oldfield Ford.

Through this course students will imagine new connections between visual art, literature, and both the built and natural environments. We will see how each informs our understanding of the others, with the concept of ruins as our touchstone.

Justin Hopper is a writer whose work explores the intersection of landscape, memory and myth.

Admission

Website

http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/courses-and-workshops/reading-ruins

In conversation: Richard Deacon

• 12 March 2014 6:30-8pm

Richard Deacon is one of Britain’s most prominent and influential living sculptors. This event marks a rare opportunity to hear Deacon talk about his work, in conversation with curator and writer Lewis Biggs, Director of the 2014 Folkestone Triennial, and a former director of Tate Liverpool.

This event is related to the exhibition Richard Deacon

Suitable for

• Any age

Admission

Website

http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/talks-and-lectures/conversation-richard-deacon

Curator’s tour: Ruin Lust

• 28 March 2014 6:30-8:30pm

Take an in-depth look at Ruin Lust with the exhibition’s curator, who explores the mournful, thrilling, comic and perverse uses of ruins in art from the 17th century to the present day.

This event is related to the exhibition Ruin Lust

Suitable for

• Any age

Admission

Website

http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/talks-and-lectures/curators-tour-ruin-lust