Past Exhibition
26 Mar – 30 May 2010
Selected by Swedish curator Theodor Ringborg, winner of an international competition organised by the British Council, this exhibition traces a recurring preoccupation with representing conflict and war in 20th Century British art.
Bringing together works in a range of media from the past 90 years, the exhibition ranges from Paul Nash’s energetic lithographs produced from his sketches of the front line at Ypres in World War I (1917-18), to Mat Collishaw’s delicate Daguerreotypes (2008) with their haunting atmosphere of distress.
Paintings, drawings and photographs by Henry Moore, Rodrigo Moynihan, Albert Richards and George Rodgers depict the realities of World War II seen from close quarters; whereas the ‘geometry of fear’ sculptures by Kenneth Armitage and Reg Butler express the anxiety and uncertainty of its aftermath. Lea Andrews and Paul Seawright address remembrance and memorial, while works by Rita Donagh, Mona Hatoum, Tim Head, Simon Norfolk and Colin Self register the enduring impact of global conflict and how this is encountered in the media. This is the final display in a year-long focus on the British Council Collection, marking the British Council’s 75th anniversary.
Supported by:
Hiscox’s sponsorship of the Whitechapel Gallery’s presentation of great collections underlines its commitment to promoting and protecting the very best in modern and contemporary art.
