30 June - 26 September 2004

Materialism  |  You've Never Had it so Good  |  Pop Goes the Easel  |  Image in Revolt  |  Ban the Bomb
A Box of Pin-Ups  |  Swinging Sixties  |  Real and Imagined Cities  |  Destruction in Art Symposium

Ban the Bomb

Throughout this period, many British artists were conscious of the threat of violence around the world which had led to a rise in protest movements, in particular the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Artists such as Richard Hamilton, Colin Self and Joe Tilson, raised awareness of political issues whilst continuing to develop new techniques that defined the Pop art movement.

In 1968 the wave of international protest, at its height in Paris, sparked sympathetic outbursts in British colleges and universities. Photographers such as Don McCullin raised public awareness of the severity of the Vietnam War, while Roger Mayne, Lewis Morley and Michael Cooper captured seminal protest events at home.

Colin Self Leopardskin Nuclear Bomber No 2 1963 Credit: Tate © Colin Self 2004. All rights reserved DACS Leopardskin Nuclear Bomber No 2 combines the imagery of a predatory beast - the leopard - with nuclear weaponry. The sculpture exemplifies the mood of anxiety in Self's work of the early 1960s. The association between nuclear and animal aggression illustrates Self's belief that self-destructive forces govern human behaviour. Sexual aggression is also referred to by the overtly phallic pink fuselage of the plane. Transcript

RB Kitaj The Murder of Rosa Luxemburg 1960 Credit: Tate © RB Kitaj The theme of this multi-layered painting is the murder in 1919 of the Jewish agitator and theoretician Rosa Luxemburg. She was killed by those opposed to the revolutionary movement that swept Germany in the wake of the First World War. Both of Kitaj's grandmothers, one of whom appears at top left, were refugees and for him Luxemburg stood for a long history of anti-semitic murders.

Joe Tilson Transparency I: Yuri Gagarin 12 April 1961 1968 Credit: Tate © Joe Tilson 2004. All rights reserved, DACS This work highlights how political figures such as the Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became instantly recognisable media celebrities. Tilson uses the format of a blown-up Ektachrome to frame found media images of this foreign icon.

Richard Hamilton Towards a Definitive Statement on the Coming Trends in Men's Wear and Accessories (a) Together Let Us Explore the Stars 1962 Credit: Tate © Richard Hamilton 2004. All rights reserved, DACS This work uses Hamilton's signature technique of combining found elements from advertising and media. The idea for the painting came from an article on male fashion in Playboy magazine. It also alludes to the 'Space Race' between the USSR and the USA, at its height under President Kennedy.