Tate Galleries

6th November 2007 | Other items by André S Clements

David Krut Publishing is the sole distributor in Southern Africa of books from the Tate galleries. In order to keep you up to date with events at Tate we will be posting regular news items about their exhibitions and publications.

Tate Modern and the British Museum in London are the two most famous galleries in the United Kingdom with millions of visitors every year. The Tate galleries have grown and now consist of 4 separate locations in England: Tate Britain and Tate Modern, which are both in London, as well as Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives.

Each gallery hosts numerous exhibitions and events as well as encouraging arts education.

There is a lot happening at Tate over the next few months with each venue showing more than one exhibit at a time. Here is a breakdown of various events taking place at the moment:

Tate Britain

Currently showing is an exhibition on Millais, one of the founding members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood whose activities began in the mid-19^th century. Regarded by many as one of the greatest painters, he is famous for his depictions of Victorian women. This style and the sensuality in his images of women were challenging for his time. The exhibition also boasts later works by the artist, landscapes and society portraits to give a well-rounded view of Millais.

The Turner Prize is the UK’s most prestigious contemporary art award, and Tate Britain is currently showing a retrospective of all the winning artists since the prize began in 1984. From Anish Kapoor to Damien Hirst, and Gilbert & George to Grayson Perry, it presents a snapshot of British art from the last 24 years. The Turner Prize: A Retrospective explores the history of the Turner Prize with a chronological selection of key works by the winning artists such as Malcolm Morley, Richard Deacon, Rachel Whiteread, Douglas Gordon, Wolfgang Tillmans and Tomma Abts, alongside documentation of over ninety short-listed artists. This exhibition is a unique opportunity to reflect upon some of the most significant moments in the recent history of British art and the reception of the prize by the press, by artists and by the public. The Turner Prize will return to Tate Britain in 2008.

Tate Britain is currently showing a sculpture in its garden by Christina Mackie entitled The large huts. Inside the gallery is its incredible collection of British art from 1500 to the present day, One of the current highlights is an exhibition entitled 1807: Blake, Slavery and the Radical Mind, focussing on William Blake (famous for his poetry and his art including prints and illustrations of his written work) and a group of radical writers of the time associated with publisher Joseph Johnson. This display marks the anniversary of the parliamentary act abolishing the slave trade in the British Empire in 1807.

Goshka Macuga is at the Tate until the 14^th of October. She creates sculptural environments that include other artists’ works as well as collections of books, souvenirs, curios and other objects. This way of working allows Macuga to become artist, collector and curator all within the one work.

Painting is also heavily featured at the Tate Britain this month with an exhibition called BP Summer Exhibition: Hockney on Turner Watercolours. While JMW Turner’s oil paintings are well known, he also created a large body of watercolour works as well as private sketches, nature studies and more. David Hockney, an established British artist, has contributed his own selection of Turner’s work to the exhibition, offering commentary on the artist’s working methods.

Tate Modern

Tate Modern is renowned for its challenging exhibitions and fascinating collection of modern art. It currently has 2 major exhibitions on display.

The first is a major exhibition of work by renowned French artist Louise Bourgeois. Her exceptional work, which has not been shown in such depth since 1995, has explored most of the artistic movements of the last century from Surrealism to Conceptual art. Bourgeois creates work using both modern and traditional techniques, and in a variety of styles from abstraction to the ready-made. She has always maintained a unique and individual style throughout her career, which has kept her ahead of contemporary practice and ensured a long and successful career.

The second is The World as a Stage, a contemporary exhibition which brings together a key group of international artists whose works investigate ideas of ‘theatre,’ staging and performance. This is the first exhibition at Tate Modern to bring the realm of performance into dialogue with gallery-based work. The World as a Stage includes numerous large installations, sculptures, performances, participatory works and events and several new pieces made specifically for the exhibition. The artists featured are Pawel Althamer, Cezary Bodzianowsky, Ulla von Brandenberg, Jeremy Deller, Trisha Donnelly, Geoffrey Farmer, Andrea Fraser, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Jeppe Hein, Renata Lucas, Rita McBride, Roman Ondák, Markus Schinwald, Tino Sehgal, Catherine Sullivan and Mario Ybarra Jr. In different ways, the works frame the viewer’s presence in the gallery and point to everyday activity in the world as a form of theatre; reconsidering the baroque notion of ‘the world as a stage’ in the twenty-first century.

Tate Liverpool

The Turner Prize 2007 (the most publicised and anticipated art award in the UK) is to be held at Tate Liverpool and is the first time the event is held outside of London. This award always provokes debate, and this year the four shortlisted artists are Zarina Bhimji, Nathan Coley, Mike Nelson and Mark Wallinger. The winner will be announced in December.

The DLA Piper Series: The Twentieth Century: How it looked and how it felt us a fantastic display of some of the greatest pieces of art in the Tate collection spanning the current century and the 20^th century, including Picasso’s Weeping Woman, Rodin’s The Kiss and Piet Mondrian’sComposition with Yellow, Blue and Red. Figurative and Abstract art are explored in this extensive exhibition, including British and international artists, giving us a rich insight into the last century.

Tate St Ives

Constructed Works brings together two of Britain’s key post-war abstract artists, Kenneth Martin (1905-1984) and Mary Martin (1907-1969). In the first joint public-gallery exhibition since 1971, the show presents a focused body of work by each artist, highlighting the correspondences and differences between their practice. Living and working together, they continually exchanged ideas, although rarely collaborated in their lifetimes.

To mark the 100th year since the birth of British painter John Wells (1907 - 2000) Tate St Ives is presenting a selection of his work from private collections and the Tate Collection

Working in sculpture, video and installation, Jonty Lees (b1971) is the fifth artist to emerge from the Tate St Ives Artist Residency Programme at the historic Porthmeor Studios, St Ives. Playful and inventive, his ideas may stem from a desire to employ a particular material or object - from bicycles or Blu-Tack to Bratwurst - with which he explores the eccentricities of human activity. His works, rooted in everyday life, often revisit gadgets and games of childhood memories or those poetic moments of daydream.

The David Krut Bookstore at 140 Jan Smuts Avenue currently carries a series of excellent books from Tate Publishing, and is constantly receiving new publications. Books relating to specific exhibitions at Tate, the latest example being a book on Salvador Dali, are also available.