by Alain Chivilò
©Alain Chivilò
An update here available: A new rehang for Tate Britain
New air at the Tate Britain, London. As statement by Alex Farquharson, Director of the museum: “When our new displays open on 23 May, visitors to Tate Britain will be able to explore 500 years of revolutionary changes in art, culture and society, culminating in new work by some of Britain’s most exciting contemporary artists. We will celebrate the very best of British art and show how it speaks to us, challenges us, and inspires us”.
After ten years, starting from Tuesday, 23 May 2023, Tate Britain shows a new complete rehang of its collection. From the past until now, among different periods of art history and expressions, more than 800 works by over 350 artists are on show for visitors, scholars, researchers, collectors and lovers of beauty.
As communicated, the rehang reflects the ongoing transformation of Tate’s collection by putting on display over 200 works which were acquired after the millennium. These include 70 works which entered the collection in the past 5 years alone, from grand Tudor portraits and Georgian battle scenes, to modern paintings and sculptures by Derek Jarman, Gluck, Takis, Kim Lim and Donald Locke. Futhermore, works by a new generation of young artists who are joining the national collection for the first time, such as a kaleidoscopic canvas by Rachel Jones (b.1991) and a series of photographs capturing 21st century British life by Rene Matić (b.1997). A new focus is reserved to women artists considering half the contemporary artists on display are women such as Bridget Riley, Lydia Ourahmane, Tracy Emin, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami, without forgetting strong women artists from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, including many who have never been shown at Tate before.
In this new vision at Tate Britain, contemporary artists are creating and installing works beyond the gallery spaces, including two climbable concrete sculptures by Sarah Lucas on the front lawn and a site-specific ceiling painting by France-Lise McGurn in the Djanogly Café. Adding, a number of complex large-scale works made from unusual materials, from the eight tonnes of rice and two thousand flowers that respectively comprise Vong Phaophanit’s Neon Rice Field and Anya Gallaccio’s Preserve ‘beauty’, to the glass and steel sculptures embedded with UV lights in Hamad Butt’s spectacular Transmission, which will be shown at Tate for the first time.
The refresh among the works, the artists, the walls and the rooms planned by Tate Britain gives to the museum a new appeal creating a bridge and further connections between past and present. New and real dialogues in Art to create positive vibes and atmospheres. Tate Britain is coming back putting the institution among the cultural locations to visit and admire in London and UK.
by Alain Chivilò
