Adventures of the Black Square: Abstract Art and Society 1915 – 2015
15 January – 6 April 2015, Galleries 1, 2, 8 & Victor Petitgas Gallery (Gallery 9)
Media view: Wednesday 14 January, 10am – 12pm
A landmark exhibition tracing a century of Abstract art from 1915 to today. Over 100 works by 100 modern masters and contemporary artists including Carl Andre, David Batchelor, Dan Flavin, Andrea Fraser, Piet Mondrian, Gabriel Orozco, Hélio Oiticica, Aleksandr Rodchenko, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Rosemarie Trockel, Theo Van Doesburg and Andrea Zittel will fill six spaces across the Gallery. The show takes a fresh look at this new art for a modern age, and asks how art relates to society and politics. As well as following the rise of Constructivist art from its revolutionary beginnings amongst the avant-garde in Russia and Europe, the exhibition sheds new light on the evolution of geometric abstraction across the globe including Asia, the US and Latin America. The show includes paintings, sculptures, film and photographs spanning the century, and is curated by Iwona Blazwick, OBE, former Whitechapel Gallery Director and Magnus af Petersens, Curator at Large, Whitechapel Gallery.
Tickets £13.50 (including Gift Aid donation) £11.95 (without Gift Aid).
Supported by Embassy of Israel to the UK and Swiss Cultural Fund UK
Christopher Williams
29 April – 21 June 2015, Galleries 1, 8 & Victor Petitgas Gallery (Gallery 9)
Media view: Tuesday 28 April, 10am – 12pm
The first major UK retrospective of leading American conceptual artist Christopher Williams (b. 1956) who works primarily in the medium of photography. Following presentations at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Modern Art, The Production Line of Happiness brings together over 50 photographs from Williams’ 35-year career. His highly produced, glossy images question the communication mechanisms and imagery that influence our understanding of the world around us. Five new works never seen before in the UK go on display including a pristine image of a broken Citroen car headlight, an image influenced by British and European Pop art. Williams uses various methods of display such as exhibition design, publicity, and books in his work. The photographs are displayed in an architectural installation specially conceived by the artist and inspired by histories of display.
Free
The London Open 2015
15 July – 6 September 2015, Galleries 1, 8 & Victor Petitgas Gallery (Gallery 9) with performances in Gallery 2.
Media view: Tuesday 14 July, 10am – 12pm
The Whitechapel Gallery’s triennial exhibition showcases some of the most dynamic and engaging work being made across London to an international audience. The Whitechapel Gallery’s open submission exhibition started in 1932 as the East End Academy and has previously featured work by celebrated artists in the early stages of their careers from Antony Gormley, Cornelia Parker and Rachel Whiteread to Pio Abad, Alice Channer and Ruth Proctor. Open to artists London wide over the age of 26, works for The London Open 2015 are selected by the Whitechapel Gallery with a panel including artist Angela de la Cruz,critic Ben Luke, collector Nicoletta Fiorucci and gallerist Jake Miller. Call for entries open until 12 December 2014.
Free
Emily Jacir
30 September – 3 January 2016,Galleries 1, 8 & Victor Petitgas Gallery (Gallery 9)
Media view: Tuesday 29 September, 10am – 12pm
The first UK survey of multimedia artist Emily Jacir. Known for her poignant works of art that are as poetic as they are political and biographical, Emily Jacir’s dynamic constellation of work explores Europe, particularly Italy and the Mediterranean. A highlight of the Whitechapel Gallery show is the UK premiere of Material for a Film (2004-ongoing), winner of a Golden Lion at the 2007 Venice Biennale, which will be shown alongside Jacir’s atmospheric short film Lydda Airport (2009).
Free
Bart Lodewijks: White Li(n)es
9 December 2014 – 8 March 2015, Outset Project Gallery (Gallery 5) & 176/Zabludowicz Collection Project Gallery (Gallery 6)
Dutch artist Bart Lodewijks uses urban environments around the world as a canvas for his distinctive chalk abstract drawings – from residential buildings in quiet suburban neighbourhoods to street surfaces in bustling metropolitan city centres. He is interested in how drawing can be a social process built on trust and conversations with individuals or groups. As part of a Gallery-wide celebration of abstract art, Lodewijks’ new commission draws from workshops with local young people, where he found out about their relationships to the public and private spaces around them.
Supported by the Mondriaan Fund, Nadfas: London Area and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Corin Sworn
20 May – 19 July 2015, Gallery 2
Media View: Tuesday 19 May, 10am – 11am
A major exhibition by Glasgow-based artist Corin Sworn (b.1976) for the fifth edition of the Max Mara Art Prize for Women, a biannual award established in 2005 to promote and support women artists in the UK. Sworn creates films and installations deeply rooted in research, weaving together history with memories and fragments of true or imagined stories. Her new large-scale installation draws from the characters and tales of the Commedia dell’Arte, improvised plays from the 16th century that originated in Italy where they continue to be of great cultural importance. Featuring a dramatic stage set with props, costumes, sound and video elements the new work is a result of Sworn’s 2014 Italian residency awarded as part of the Prize.
Free
Children’s Commission
23 June – 30 August 2015, Outset Project Gallery (Gallery 5) & 176/Zabludowicz Collection Project Gallery (Gallery 6)
Each year the Whitechapel Gallery commissions a leading contemporary artist to make a work of art that engages with children. Artists Simon & Tom Bloor, Jake & Dinos Chapman, Alan Kane, Eva Rothschild, Francis Upritchard and Jessica Voorsanger have previously made new works of art. The next artist for the commission will be announced in 2015.
Free
Artists select from the V-A-C collection
9 September 2014 – 30 August 2015, Gallery 7
As part of the Whitechapel Gallery’s programme opening up public and private collections, the Gallery presents four displays of the V-A-C collection selected in partnership with four internationally acclaimed artists over the course of a year. The V-A-C collection brings together an extensive range of important art works including sculptures, works on paper, paintings and photographs from leading, internationally recognised artists from Francis Bacon, Amadeo Modigliani, Georgy Petrusov, Sigmar Polke, Egon Schiele, Jenider Steinkamp, to Jaan Toomik, Andy Warhol and Christopher Wool. The exhibitions go on show in the Whitechapel Gallery’s dedicated Collections Gallery, each accompanied by a unique publication devised by the guest selector. Displays include:
Fiona Banner selects from the V-A-C collection, 9 December 2014 – 8 March 2015.
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye selects from the V-A-C collection, 17 March – 14 June 2015.
James Richards selects from the V-A-C collection, 23 June – 30 August 2015.
The Whitechapel Gallery Collections programme is supported by specialist art insurer Hiscox. Free
The Barjeel Collection
8 September 2015 – December 2016, Gallery 7
Continuing the Whitechapel Gallery’s programme opening up collections, a year-long series of displays brings works from the Barjeel Art Foundation in the United Arab Emirates to Britain for the first time. The four displays will highlight rarely seen works by artists from Algeria, Palestine, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and elsewhere, telling the story of Arab art from the modern to the contemporary period. Working with an expert advisory board, the exhibition presents the broadest single overview of Arab art to be shown in the UK to date. The exhibition is accompanied by a comprehensive, fully-illustrated publication.
Continuing the Whitechapel Gallery’s programme opening up collections, a year-long series of displays brings works from the Barjeel Art Foundation in the United Arab Emirates to Britain for the first time. The four displays will highlight rarely seen works by artists from Algeria, Palestine, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and elsewhere, telling the story of Arab art from the modern to the contemporary period. Working with an expert advisory board, the exhibition presents the broadest single overview of Arab art to be shown in the UK to date. The exhibition is accompanied by a comprehensive, fully-illustrated publication.
The Whitechapel Gallery Collections programme is supported by specialist art insurer Hiscox. Free
Sculptors’ Papers from The Henry Moore Institute
Until 22 February 2015, Pat Matthews Gallery (Gallery 4)
The stories behind some of London’s most radical public sculptures are traced in a display drawing on the Institute’s rich collection of sculptors’ papers in Leeds, England. The exhibition sheds new light on sculpture in the capital, charting the creative process, political debates and critical responses surrounding realised and unrealised works from the early twentieth century onwards. Highlights include materials for Laurence Bradshaw’s (1899-1978) iconic Karl Marx Memorial (1956); plans for Alfred Frank Hardiman’s (1891-1949) imposing equestrian sculpture of World War I Field Marshall Douglas Haig and rare photographs of Jacob Epstein (1880-1959) and his British Medical Association sculptures(1908-1937). The display is part of an on-going programme presenting guest archives and drawing from the Gallery’s own history.
The Whitechapel Gallery archive exhibitions are generously supported by Catherine and Franck Petitgas and The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art. Free
Karen Mirza and Brad Butler: Unreliable Narrator
13 January – 26 April 2015, Zilkha Auditorium
Artists’ Film International showcases artists’ film, video and animation from around the world. Works are selected by partner organisations in Afghanistan, Argentina, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Turkey, UK, US and Vietnam. In January 2015, the Whitechapel Gallery presents Unreliable Narrator (2013) a new work by London-based artists Karen Mirza and Brad Butler. The programme continues in spring, summer and autumn with new work selected by Artists’ Film International partners based on the theme of conflict.
Swarovski Whitechapel Gallery Art Icon
March 2015
A spectacular gala to honour the achievements of one of our greatest living artists, while raising vital funds for the Whitechapel Gallery.
Commissions and Displays
Presented throughout 2015 in galleries 5 & 6, spaces dedicated to innovative collaborations between artists and local schools, young people and community groups. Projects for 2015 include Bart Lodewijks: White Li(n)es (9 December 2014 – 8 March 2015) and the annual Children’s Commission (23 June – 30 August 2015).
Writer in Residence: Caroline Bergvall
October 2014 – March 2015
Each year the Whitechapel Gallery invites a Writer in Residence to investigate how language can be performed and understood in the context of a public art institution. From October 2014, French-Norwegian writer Caroline Bergvall takes up a 6 month residency at the Gallery, investigating writing, reading and listening through a series of performances, talks, events and online activities. On 9 October Bergvall launches her latest book Drift at the Gallery with an evening of collective readings and conversations with invited poets. On 27 November she invites a relay of artists and writers to present the art work or text that has most radically influenced their own work.
Supported by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in London
Prix Pictet Conversations on Photography
Throughout 2015
The Gallery’s series of talks bringing together acclaimed international photographers with leading curators, thinkers and writers continues throughout 2015. Past events have included in-conversations with Mitch Epstein, Richard Mosse, Ahlam Shibli, Thomas Struth and Newsha Tavakolian.
Supported by Pictet & Cie
Conference: Artists’ Moving Image in Britain 1990-2015
Autumn 2015
The Whitechapel Gallery collaborates with Film London and the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art on a major conference on the recent history of artists’ film in Britain from the 90s to the present day. Talks from leading international specialists take place alongside screenings, panel discussions and performances.
In Association with and supported by Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
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