Artists and new dates announced for prestigious British Art Show in Aberdeen
29 June 2020
The new dates and artists for the prestigious British Art Show at Aberdeen Art Gallery have been announced today (Monday 29 June) by Hayward Gallery Touring.
The prestigious show, held every five years and the biggest touring exhibition of contemporary art in the UK, will be shown at Aberdeen Art Gallery in summer 2021.
Exploring new tendencies in artistic practice the British Art Show is widely acknowledged as the most important recurrent exhibition of contemporary art produced in this country. Each edition of the show is hosted in only four UK cities. Aberdeen Art Gallery is the only Scottish venue in this year’s tour. As a snapshot of contemporary British art, the exhibition is compared to the annual Turner Prize and biennial exhibitions such as those held by the Whitney Museums of American Art in New York.
Councillor Marie Boulton, Aberdeen City Council’s culture spokesperson said: “Securing the British Art Show for Aberdeen is a real coup for Aberdeen Art Gallery. It will be the largest exhibition of its kind we have ever hosted. It is the international standard and scale of exhibition which the Art Gallery was redeveloped to accommodate.
It’s a fantastic example of our ambition for the city’s recovery post-Covid, in which cultural activity and our Events 365 programme will play a major part. With the exhibition planned to be displayed across all three floors of the Art Gallery, this is an unrivalled opportunity for visitors to get to know more about contemporary art, including our exceptional collection in Aberdeen, meet artists and take part in inspiring events.”
Aberdeen Art Gallery will work with cultural practitioners and organisations in the city to develop and promote an exciting programme of complementary activity. Duncan Cockburn, Chair of Culture Aberdeen said: ““Culture Aberdeen is delighted that the British Art Show will be presented in the spectacular context of the redeveloped Art Gallery. The Show provides an excellent opportunity for Aberdeen’s cultural sector to build partnership with artists from across the UK. It also provides an exciting opportunity for Aberdonians to engage with art of the highest quality in their own city.”
Chris Foy, CEO, VisitAberdeenshire, said: “Aberdeen Art Gallery is a natural host venue for the renowned British Art Show exhibition. It’s fitting to see the redeveloped gallery selected as the only venue in Scotland, cementing the region’s credentials as an emerging cultural hotspot for visitors and locals alike.”
The curators of BAS 9, Irene Aristizábal and Hammad Nasar, have made their artist selection after extensive research and travel across the UK and most of the works will be created specifically for the exhibition.
They curators said: "In framing the exhibition, we have grouped practices into three expansive categories: healing, care and reparative history; tactics for togetherness; and imagining new futures. While these themes were shaped at the end of 2019, the unfolding impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the protests against racial injustice, make them even more urgent. We want the exhibition to present a multitude of voices and viewpoints in a set of presentations that accumulate and evolve from city to city; British Art Show 9 will be responsive to each city’s local collections, communities, urgencies and histories, enabling meaningful engagement for its local audiences.”
Brian Cass, Senior Curator, Hayward Gallery Touring, said: “We are delighted to announce the new exhibition dates and the outstanding group of artists that Irene and Hammad have selected for this edition of British Art Show. Presenting an exhibition with many new commissions and a wide programme of public engagement will give audiences across the UK an unparalleled opportunity to see how art can inspire, empower and offer new ways of being in the world”.
The artists in British Art Show 9 are:
Hurvin Anderson, Michael Armitage, Simeon Barclay, Oliver Beer, Zach Blas, Kathrin Böhm, Maeve Brennan, James Bridle, Helen Cammock, Than Hussein Clark, Cooking Sections (Alon Schwabe & Daniel Fernández Pascual), Jamie Crewe, Oona Doherty, Sean Edwards, Mandy El-Sayegh, Mark Essen, GaikaBeatrice Gibson, Patrick Goddard, Anne Hardy, Celia Hempton, Andy Holden,Joey Holder, Marguerite Humeau, Lawrence Lek, Ghislaine Leung, Paul Maheke,Elaine Mitchener, Oscar Murillo, Grace Ndiritu, Uriel Orlow, Hardeep Pandhal,Hetain Patel, Florence Peake, Heather Phillipson, Joanna Piotrowska, Abigail Reynolds, Margaret Salmon, Hrair Sarkissian, Katie Schwab, Tai Shani,Marianna Simnett, Victoria Sin, Hanna Tuulikki, Caroline Walker, Alberta Whittle,Rehana Zaman
The 9th edition of the British Art Show was originally planned to open in Manchester in September 2020. In light of the Coronavirus pandemic, and in dialogue with the partner institutions in each city and the artists in the exhibition, the dates and the order of the exhibition tour have been changed.
New Tour details:6 March - 30 May 2021- Wolverhampton: Wolverhampton Art Gallery and University of Wolverhampton School of Art
3 July - 3 October 2021 - Aberdeen: Aberdeen Art Gallery
6 November 2021 - 13 March 2022: Plymouth: The Box, Plymouth; KARST; The Arts Institute’s Levinsky Gallery and The Gallery at Plymouth College of Art
6 May - 4 September 2022: Manchester: HOME; Manchester Art Gallery; Castlefield Gallery; The Whitworth and the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art (CFCCA)
Aberdeen Art Gallery
Aberdeen Art Gallery is an exceptional centre for art and music in the heart of the city. Our Recognised Collection of National Significance connects Aberdeen’s unique past, present and future, inspiring and empowering our communities to love their own culture and sharing that pride with the wider world. Even in its Victorian beginning, the Gallery’s founders looked to their contemporaries when choosing works to collect. Our interest in collecting recent work has remained true to the intentions of the original benefactors. Between 2015 and 2019 Aberdeen Art Gallery underwent a landmark transformation, supported by Aberdeen City Council and the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Aberdeen Art Gallery is an inspiring and accessible cultural hub that is triggering collaborative cultural activity across the city www.aagm.co.uk