Friday, December 12, 2014

Start 2015 Off Right With These Brand New Exhibitions In England


Andy Warhol, Dame Elizabeth Taylor, © 2014 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.  Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York and DACS, London
There’s no excuse not to be cultured next year. Britain has cracking exhibitions, from man of the moment (on screen and in the galleries) JMW Turner’s paintings on show, to exhibitions that will teach you something new about subjects as diverse as Coral Reefs and computer games – and not forgetting sure-fire blockbusterAlexander McQueen: Savage Beauty. Get your culture claws into this.
Diary at the ready?
‘The Beginning of that Freedome’
Houses of Parliament, London
January 20– November 2015
Westminster Hall will host a colourful banner exhibition that charts an 800 year history of rights and representation. Nine artists have been commissioned to create 18 large banners which will line the walls of this magnificent medieval space where numerous trials, banquets and important state occasions have taken place.
Turner in January 2015
Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
January 1-31, 2015
These works, bequeathed to the Scottish National Gallery by collector Henry Vaughan, span Turner’s career, from his early topographical wash drawings to his atmospheric sketches of continental Europe from the 1830s and ‘40s. Vaughan stipulated they should be ‘exhibited to the public all at one time, free of charge, during the month of January’ which has happened for more than a century.
SelfImage and identity - self-portraiture from Van Dyck to Louise Bourgeois
Turner Contemporary, Margate, Kent, South East England
January 24 - May 10, 2015
Organized in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery, the exhibition presents artist self-portraits from the sixteenth-century to the present day. More than 60 works from the National Portrait Gallery will be presented alongside key twentieth-century and contemporary self-portraits from major public and private international collections.
Rubens and his Legacy: Van Dyck to Cézanne
Royal Academy, London
January 24 – April 10, 2015
The Royal Academy of Arts will present the first major exhibition in the UK to examine Rubens’ influence on art history. Rubens and His Legacy: Van Dyck to Cézanne is an exploration of the artistic legacy of Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), the most influential of Flemish painters. The exhibition will bring together masterpieces by Rubens and the artists who were inspired by him, during his lifetime and up until the twentieth century, including Van Dyck, Watteau, Turner and Delacroix, as well as Manet, Cézanne, Renoir, Klimt and Picasso. Rubens and His Legacy will present over 160 works, comprising paintings, drawings and prints drawn from some of the finest collections world-wide.
Cornelia Parker; and The 1960s: BOOM
The Whitworth, Manchester, North West England
Both exhibitions open with the gallery on February 14, 2015
The Whitworth reopens February 14, 2015 with a major solo exhibition from one of Britain’s most acclaimed contemporary artists, Cornelia Parker – and her work invites you to witness the transformation of ordinary objects into something compelling and extraordinary. It is an extensive exhibition that features a wide range of work made during Parker’s career, from her signature piece Cold Dark Matter; An Exploded View (1991) alongside two new commissions and many other new works.
Reflecting a uniquely British artistic perspective, in The 1960s: BOOM, works by Peter Blake, Allen Jones, Bridget Riley and Peter Phillips manifest the riot of colour, fashion and art of the era. Richard Hamilton’s acerbic riposte to a western obsession with youth and consumerism, Colin Self’s chilling reflection of subversive cold war activity and Elizabeth Frink’s brutish depictions of masculinity also serve to remind us of the incendiary nature of this radical decade. BOOM opens the newly refurbished Whitworth, Manchester.
Inventing Impressionism: How Paul Durand-Ruel created the Modern Art Market
National Gallery, London
March 4 –May 31, 2015
Impressionism produced some of the most controversial images of its time, yet is now one of painting’s best-loved movements. It owes much of its global success to the endeavours of one man: art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel (1831-1922) a key figure that discovered Monet, Pissarro, Degas and Renoir in the early 1870s, buying their works when they were still largely ignored or ridiculed.
Alexander McQueen – Savage Beauty
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
March 14– July 19, 2015
Celebrating the extraordinary creative talent of one of the most innovative designers of recent times, Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty will be the first and largest retrospective of McQueen's work to be presented in Europe. When originally shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2011 it became one of the Museum's top 10 most visited exhibitions. The V & A exhibition will have more emphasis on his London roots.
Canaletto: Celebrating Britain
Compton Verney, Warwickshire, West Midlands, England
March 14 – June 7, 2015
This exhibition spotlights the paintings and drawings which Canaletto created between 1746 and 1755, when he chose to celebrate the latest achievements of British architecture and engineering. This is the first time that these painting have been gathered together.
Painting Paradise: The Art of the Garden
The Queen’s Gallery, London
March 20 – October 11, 2015
Whether a sacred sanctuary, a place for scientific study, a haven for the solitary thinker or a space for pure enjoyment and delight, gardens are where mankind and nature meet. A new exhibition at The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace will explore the many ways in which the garden has been celebrated in art through over 150 paintings, drawings, books, manuscripts and decorative arts from the Royal Collection, including some of the earliest and rarest surviving records of gardens and plants.From spectacular paintings of epic royal landscapes to jewel-like manuscripts and delicate botanical studies, Painting Paradise: The Art of the Garden reveals the changing character of the garden and its enduring appeal for artists from the 16th to the early 20th century, including Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt van Rijn and Carl Fabergé.
The Body Beautiful: Art and Thought in Ancient Greece
British Museum, London
March 26– July 5, 2015
The ancient Greeks invented the modern idea of the human body in art as an object of sensory delight and as an expression of the intelligent mind. The exhibition invites visitors to engage with artworks that have shaped the way we think about ourselves, with over 100 artworks spanning over 2000 years, including 10 pieces of free standing sculpture.
Coral Reefs: Secret Cities of the Sea
Natural History Museum, London
Opens March 27, 2015
Coral Reefs: Secret Cities of the Sea will include a live coral reef, a virtual dive and more than 200 specimens such as corals, fish and fossils. Opening on March 27, 2015, this exhibition will explore the richness of life beneath the waves, and its announcement marks World Oceans Day.
Against Captain’s Orders: A Journey into the Uncharted 
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
March 28 – August 2015
In an exclusive first for the museum industry, the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich is collaborating with Punchdrunk Enrichment to create an exhibit for six to twelve year olds and their families. With so much history secured in one museum: so many objects, so many stories, so many doorways to other times and other worlds, Against Captain’s Orders: A Journey into the Unchartered, takes audience members on the adventure of a lifetime through the National Maritime Museum’s extraordinary collection of maritime artefacts. Exciting, enlightening, and, who knows, perhaps just a tiny bit dangerous, Against Captain’s Orders: A Journey into the Unchartered promises a theatrical journey through the museum, the like of which has never been seen before.
Indigenous Australia: Enduring Civilisation
British Museum, London
April 23– August 2, 2015
Discover Indigenous Australian objects – products of a continuing culture dating back over 55,000 years. The impact of European colonialism was profound leaving a legacy that is still contested. This exhibition showcases remarkable objects from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries and includes some of the oldest objects collected in Australia.
What is Luxury? Victoria and Albert Museum, LONDON
April 25 – September 27, 2015
The exhibition will interrogate ideas of luxury today and address how luxury is made and understood in a physical, conceptual and cultural capacity. Extraordinary works of craftsmanship will be on display including a couture gown by fashion designer Iris van Herpen and fine examples of haute horlogerie by British watchmaker George Daniels.
Love Is Enough – Andy Warhol and William Morris, curated by Jeremy Deller
Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, West Midlands, England
April 25– August 2015
Love is Enough brings together two major international artists for the first time – Andy Warhol and William Morris to explore and reveal their similar interests and ideas and parallels between their works. The exhibition is being curated by the artist Jeremy Deller and is being developed by Modern Art Oxford. Both artists are a significant influence on his work which explores socio-political aspects of contemporary culture, in particular in relationship to class and politics. Warhol and Morris were both strongly committed to creating a more democratic context for art, through both the design and production of their work. The exhibition will bring together significant and iconic works by both artists from public and private collections including some rarely seen work. It will include archival material owned or made by both artists that sheds light on their influences and working practices.
Turner’s Wessex: Architecture and Ambition, Salisbury Museum, Wiltshire, ENGLAND
May 22– September 27, 2015
The exhibition throws new light on the earliest work of the young Turner in and around Salisbury and its magnificent cathedral. Turner first visited Salisbury in 1795 when he was 20 years old and later returned to paint an area that captivated him as an artist. His depictions of Stonehenge in particular proved to be among his most hauntingly atmospheric works and he produced a series of watercolours of Salisbury. The third part of this exhibition will chart Turner’s fascination with the wider Wessex region – spanning the area of Wiltshire around Salisbury, as well as the Dorset coast, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. It culminates in Turner’s record of the historic visit made by the French King, the first such visit to England since the fourteenth century, to Queen Victoria in 1844.
Game On
Life Science Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England
May 25, 2015 – November 1, 2015
Game On - the ultimate exploration of the history, culture and future of videogames. Showcasing the finest arcade machines, consoles and hand held games to have been produced, the exhibition also features the newest advancements in game design and technology. Learn about early gaming from Penny Arcades, Pinball, Pachinko, Space Wars, Computer Space and Pong and demo 3D technology and gaming as well as exploring the latest development in virtual reality. Game On takes an in-depth look at the people and technologies that have revolutionised games and how we play them. Highly interactive, with over 150 playable games, experience the best of both new and retro games. The exhibition includes a dedicated section to arcade games, with titles such as Pac-Man, Defender and Donkey Kong. Get your hands on playable consoles ranging from back in the day through to the latest must-haves! *Depending on the game played - age restrictions may apply.
Shoes – Pain and Pleasure
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
June 13, 2015 –January 31, 2016
This exhibition will look at the extremes of footwear from around the globe, presenting around 200 pairs of shoes ranging from a sandal decorated in pure gold leaf originating from ancient Egypt to the most elaborate designs by contemporary makers. It will consider the cultural significance and transformative capacity of shoes and will examine the latest developments in footwear technology creating the possibility of ever higher heels and dramatic shapes. Examples from famous shoe wearers and collectors will be shown alongside a dazzling range of historic shoes, many of which have not been displayed before.
Jackson Pollock: Blind Spots
Tate Liverpool, Liverpool, North West England
June 30– October 18, 2015
Widely considered to be one of the most influential and provocative American artists of the twentieth century, Pollock famously pioneered action painting, a process that saw him drip paint on canvases resting on the studio floor. Jackson Pollock: Blind Spots presents the first exhibition in more than three decades of Pollock’s paintings made between 1951 and 1953, shedding light on a less well known but extremely influential part of his practice and departure from his signature technique.
“The Grand Tour Season One”
Nottingham Contemporary, Chatsworth, Derby Museums and the Harley Gallery, Welbeck, East Midlands, England
July – September 2015
Contemporary artists including Turner Prize-winner Simon Starling, Peter Blake and architect Rem Koolhaas have been invited to create work in this modern Grand Tour aiming to reveal hidden treasures from private collections, juxtaposing them with contemporary art exhibitions across the four venues.
Soundscapes: Listening to Paintings
National Gallery, London
July 8– September 6, 2015
After the highly successful and experimental Metamorphosis: Titian 2012, where contemporary artists – including choreographers, composers, dancers, poets and visual artists – responded to paintings by Renaissance master Titian, the National Gallery is inviting six sound artists and musicians to each select a painting from the National Gallery’s collection and to create new work in response to it. Each artist will be given a room in the Sainsbury Wing exhibition galleries in which their chosen painting and their sound/musical response will be installed.
The new sound pieces will be site specific and can only be heard in the context of the Soundscapes exhibition with the painting that inspired it. Relying on minimal textthe idea is to give visitors the opportunity to experience and think about these works of art in a very different way, though what they hear as much as what they see.
Bailey’s Stardust 
National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh
July 18 – October 18, 2015
Hundreds of photographs by David Bailey, one of the world’s most famous photographers will be on show from July to October 2015 in the largest exhibition of David Bailey’s portraits to be shown in the UK. It will feature more than 300 portraits including works that depict Bailey's time in East Africa, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Delhi and the Naga Hills, as well as icons from the worlds of fashion and the arts, striking portraits of the Rolling Stones, Catherine Bailey and the East End of London.
Nature Camera Action! 
M Shed, Bristol, South West England
July 18– November 1, 2015 (NB exact dates shortly to be confirmed)
Celebrating Bristol European Green Capital it will reveal the secrets of making incredible wildlife films, and is produced with support from the BBC Natural History Unit, BBC Earth and BBC History.
Scottish Artists 1750 – 1900: From Caledonia to the Continent 
The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, Scotland
August 6– February 7
This is the first ever exhibition devoted to Scottish art in the Royal Collection and brings together paintings, drawings and miniatures collected by monarchs from George III to Queen Victoria. It includes the work of painters who were born in Scotland and travelled abroad, such as Allan Ramsay and Sir David Wilkie, and of those whose inspiration remained firmly rooted in their native land, such as Alexander Nasmyth and James Giles. In particular, the exhibition highlights the importance and influence of artists whose work was shaped by the ideas of the Scottish Enlightenment.
THE WORLD GOES POP
Tate Modern, London
September 17, 2015 – January 24, 2016
This groundbreaking exhibition will reveal how artists around the world engaged with the spirit of pop art, from Latin America to Asia, and from Europe to the Middle East. Exploding the traditional story of pop art, The World Goes Pop shows how different cultures contributed, re-thought and responded to the movement. Around 200 works from the 1960s and 1970s will be brought together, many shown in the UK for the first time. The exhibition will reveal how pop art was never just a celebration of western consumer culture, but was often a subversive international language.
Ai Weiwei, Royal Academy of Arts, London
September 19, 2015 – December 13, 2015
The Royal Academy will present a landmark exhibition of the Honorary RA, Ai Weiwei. As the first significant British survey of his artistic output, the exhibition will include major works spanning Ai Weiwei’s career, as well as including new work by the artist.
Celts
British Museum, London
September 24, 2015 – January 31, 2016
Celtic art flourished in Britain and Europe from 500 BC and was reinvented and transformed during the Roman and early medieval periods, particularly in the British Isles. Powerful objects decorated with Celtic art helped shape the identities of the ancient peoples who made and used them, and the real and imagined legacy of the ancient Celts continues to influence modern identities across the British Isles and beyond.
The Fabric of India
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
September 26, 2015 – January 10, 2016
The highlight of the V&A’s India Season, this will be the first major exhibition to explore the dynamic and multifaceted world of handmade textiles from India from the 3rd to the 21st century, including a spectacular 18th-century tent belonging to Tipu Sultan, a stunning range of historic costume, highly prized textiles made for trade, and fashion by contemporary Indian designers such as Manish Arora and Rajesh Pratap Singh.
Enchanted Dreams: The Pre-Raphaelite Art of Edward Robert Hughes
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, West Midlands, England
October 17, 2015 – February 2016 (dates TBC)
Enchanted Dreams will be the first exhibition dedicated to Hughes and his work in over a century. It will bring together paintings, drawings, watercolours and photographs from public and private collections in the UK and overseas, many of them unseen since the artist’s own lifetime. This unique exhibition has been organised by Birmingham Museums Trust, which holds the single finest collection of works by the Pre-Raphaelites and their associates anywhere in the world. Enchanted Dreams will present Hughes’ delightful child portraiture, exquisite drawings and the lyrical late ‘blue pictures’ such as Night with her Train of Starsand Twilight Phantasies which have become famous and loved worldwide. Drawing on major new research and revealing many works which have been unseen for over a century, this exhibition will rediscover and reassess a fascinating and neglected figure in the history of British art.
Goya: The Portraits
National Gallery, London
October 7, 2015 – January 10, 2016
Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746 -1828) is one of Spain’s most celebrated artists, considered a supremely gifted portrait painter and an excellent social commentator who took the genre of portraiture to new heights through his ability to reveal the psychology of his sitter. The first ever focusing solely on his portraits will re-appraise Goya’s genius as a portraitist and provide a penetrating insight into both public and private aspects of his life.
Brick Wonders 
Life Science Centre, Times Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England
November 28, 2015 - January 31, 2016
Brick Wonders is a new exhibition of the wonders of the ancient, modern and natural worlds built out of Lego. One of the exhibition highlights is a large airport with working lights. There will also be a chance to get ‘hands-on’ at one of several Lego activity stations. This is a follow-up exhibition to Brick City and is based on the Brick Wonders book.

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