At sea

14 July-23 September 2001
Admission £3, £2 concessions

Rineke Dijkstra, Kolobrzeg, Poland, July 26 1992 (1992)
Tate © Courtesy of Rineke Dijkstra and Anthony D'Offay

Artists have been fascinated by the sea for centuries, using it to represent the power of nature and the sublime. Many artists working today continue to find the sea a source of inspiration and this exhibition brings together an exciting selection of work by 21 contemporary artists.

Artists such as Vija Celmins and Hiroshi Sugimoto see the sea as conducive to quiet contemplation. For others, the sea evokes scenes of danger or disaster. Shipwrecks, drownings and other tragedies are hauntingly alluded to in the work of Tacita Dean and Mariele Neudecker. The seashore as a site for leisure and entertainment can be seen in Martin Parr's photographs of the resort of West Bay in Dorset and in Tracy Emin's Whitstable beach hut. The subject of holidaymakers is also explored in Rineke Dijkstra's striking photographs, in which her teenage models nervously inhabit deserted beaches.

Sue Arrowsmith
Vija Celmins
Claude Closky
Mat Collishaw
Gary Coyle
Dorothy Cross
Tacita Dean
Rineke Dijkstra
Tracey Emin
Garry Fabian Miller
Felix Gonzalez-Torres
Rodney Graham
Zebedee Jones
Tania Kovats
Clare Langan
Richard Long
Mariele Neudecker
Martin Parr
James Peel
Hiroshi Sugimoto
Chris Welsby