Telling Tales Narrative Impulses in Recent Art

Telling Tales presents works from the Tate Collection that reveal the fascination for storytelling in contemporary art. Many of these works have only just been acquired. Together they display not only a strong current in recent art practice but also a new chapter in the story of the Tate Collection.

Stories are important forms of communication and have inspired the work of artists for centuries. Yet, with the rise of abstract art in the twentieth century narrative became marginalised. Today however, many artists look beyond the realm of fine art for inspiration and are influenced by the narrative forms found in film, literature, television and magazines. Telling Tales examines how artists have devised new ways of working to update the age­old quest to tell a story.

Telling Tales follows a subtle narrative of its own. It begins with works that explore notions of setting the scene, and ends with those that document narratives using text. With all stories, it is the reader or viewer who activates the tale with his or her reading. Similarly Telling Tales presents an opportunity for you to engage with the works and develop your own stories and interpretations.

The written word is perhaps the most prevalent form of recording and circulating narratives within our culture. Text is bestowed with a certain authority yet words can be as subjective as any image. In recent years, many artists have sought to challenge the supremacy of the written word and explore the tension between visual and textual forms of expression.

But the story does not end when the author writes the last word. The interpretation of a single text by different readers can lead to a startling range of conclusions; history shows how different interpretations of religious or political texts can lead to serious consequences. Jenny Holzer's Inflammatory Essays 1979-82 reveal how fanatical interpretations can assume a frightening power when translated into text. Neither art nor language provides the security of a singular interpretation. As such, the act of telling tales and the processes of, reading' them are completely open.