A Secret History of Clay: From Gauguin to Gormley looked at the use of clay as a medium for the avant-garde by artists working from the late nineteenth century through to the present day. Clay has been widely used by a range of innovative artists such as Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Lucio Fontana, Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman and Turner Prize winner Grayson Perry who were all featured in this exhibition. Expanding conventional ideas about the artistic and historical use of clay, the exhibition not only included vessels and sculptural objects but also films, photographs and performance, including a domestic interior made entirely from contemporary ceramic works, an installation comprising over one tonne of oilclay by the Japanese artist Sekine Nobuo and site-specific works by Andy Goldsworthy, Chen Zhen and Antony Gormley.
The Liverpool Biennial is the UK's largest contemporary visual art event, and Tate Liverpool is a major venue for International 04. The exhibition presented twenty-two new projects by some of the most important contemporary artists from across the world. Many works took their reference from an exploration of Liverpool’s history and culture, whilst other ideas were realised through collaborative projects in the city, and produced as films, videos or photography as well as large-scale installations. The artists included Cildo Meireles, Yoko Ono, Valeska Soares and Navin Rawanchaikul.
The exhibition was curated by Adrian George.
Since the late 1970s, Richard Wentworth has emerged as one of the key figures in contemporary art, radically transforming the way we think about sculpture. Using materials from the everyday world such as dictionaries, sweet wrappers, books, plates and buckets in his sculptures, Wentworth teases us into a new awareness of the everyday. This was his largest and most comprehensive exhibition to date and brought together sculpture and photography from the last 30 years, as well as several new works made especially for the exhibition.
The exhibition was curated by Simon Groom.
This exhibition explored psychedelic art, music and film – as well as graphic design and architecture – of the 1960s, locating it within the wider artistic, cultural and political context of the period. Summer of Love included paintings, photographs and sculptures by, amongst others, Isaac Abrams, Richard Avedon, Lynda Benglis, Richard Hamilton, Nam June Paik, Yayoi Kusama, Robert Indiana, Peter Sedgley, Stan Vanderbeek, John McCracken, Adrian Piper, Lucas Samaras, Thomas Wilfred and USCO. Film, video and multimedia environments replicated the total experience of psychedelic light shows and music performances by Andy Warhol, the Boyle Family and Gustav Metzger. Utopian visions of liberated and relaxed living were explored in the architectural designs of Archigram and Buckminster Fuller, as well as in Vernon Panton’s colourful and amorphous furniture landscape.
The exhibition was curated by Christoph Grunenberg and toured to Schirn Gallery, Frankfurt; and Kunsthalle Vienna.
Supported by Tate Liverpool Members
Supported by The Henry Moore Foundation
One of the leading figures in an outstanding generation of young British artists who emerged during the 1990s, Sarah Lucas has gained an international reputation for provocative works that frequently employ coarse visual puns and a defiant, bawdy humour. This exhibition presented art in a range of media – photography, sculpture, collages, installations and drawings – and included key works from her career as well as new work made for the exhibition. This was the first survey exhibition of the artist, and was organised in collaboration with the Kunsthalle Zurich and the Kunstverein in Hamburg.
The exhibition was curated by Simon Groom.
Supported by Tate Members
Making History was the first exhibition to explore the importance and impact of documentary practice on British art and artists (and vice versa) through the twentieth century and to demonstrate its relevance today. The exhibition charted the development of the documentary genre and featured work by artists and practitioners such as John Grierson, William Coldstream, Humphrey Spender, Bill Brandt, John Bratby, Lucian Freud, Martin Parr, Isaac Julien, Jeremy Deller and Gillian Wearing. It questioned the nature, extent and definition of documentary. Although the focus was on fine art, film and photography, the exhibition also covered television documentary and docudrama, poetry and literature, sociology and social anthropology.
The exhibition was curated by Tanya Barson.
Field was shown as the grand finale of A Secret History of Clay, and was installed by many of the same people who had helped make Field for the British Isles 1992 in Merseyside. Consisting of thirty-five thousand hand-sized clay terracotta figures, which completely fill the gallery, the work shown was the American version made in Mexico in 1990.
The exhibition was curated by Simon Groom.
Rhinegold: Art from Cologne has been generously supported by and is part of the Festival nrw@uk which presents a wide variety of cultural events from the state of Nordrhein-Westphalia.
It has been fifteen years since Tate Liverpool first presented Art from Cologne and it was felt timely to examine the city's changing art scene. The exhibition introduced some of the most exciting artists to have emerged over the recent years and displayed their work alongside established figures, such as Georg Herold. Also included were Michael Krebber, Cosima von Bonin, Matti Braun and others. The exhibition continued the close cultural relationship with Liverpool's twin city.
The exhibition was curated by Christoph Grunenberg and Laurence Sillars.
Supported by Tate Liverpool Members
‘Butch Queen Realness with a Twist in Pastel Colours Video Show‘ was a new work commissioned for Tate Liverpool by the artist assume vivid astro focus. This all-encompassing environment combined exuberant wallpaper with huge video projections featuring footage from music videos, club nights and dance performances.
The project was curated by Tanya Barson.
Project Space presents the work of artists who have been specially commissioned by Tate Liverpool to make work for the ground- floor gallery. This was the sixth Project Space and presented new work by one of the most successful African-American artists, Kara Walker. Walker quickly came to international attention with her room-sized silhouette cut-outs, which depict controversial and provocative themes. Central to her work is Black history, its telling and re-telling, and the effect this has on African Americans today.
The exhibition was curated by Christoph Grunenberg.
In partnership with Rolls-Royce and supported by Arts and Business New Partners
This exhibition was the culmination of a unique partnership between Tate Liverpool and Rolls-Royce in Derby. All the models and sculptures on display were made by Engineering Trainees aged between sixteen and twenty, as part of a project that focused on creative thinking in the workplace. Responding to the display The Shape of Ideas: Models and Sculptures from the Tate Collection, this selection was the third and final showcase of the young people’s work. Chemistry I: Creativity and Innovation was on display at Rolls-Royce’s Learning and Career Development Centre in Derby on 13 July. Chemistry II: Creative Process and Collaboration was showing at Derby Art Gallery and Museum 17 July – 22 August.
