Whitechapel Gallery

21/06/2021

Wishing all a happy Summer Solstice on this rainy day!

To mark the seasonal shift, we’re delighted to launch Zadie Xa’s new film 'The Word for Water is Whale', as part of the Ways of Knowing programme. The film explores the interconnectedness of memory, travel and knowledge transmission through deep listening, required to further understand our world and those with whom we share it.

The film asks: what information - spiritual, technological or otherwise - happens at a cellular level as sonic waves ebb and flow across water? What are the unearthed narratives and secrets that can be gleaned from the rumbling frequencies of the marine world?

Dive into Zadie’s work on our website and stay tuned for a live in-conversation event with the artist on 15 July: http://ow.ly/4vUn50Ff8mT

Co-commissioned by the 13th Shanghai Biennale and Whitechapel Gallery.

Wishing all a happy Summer Solstice on this rainy day!

To mark the seasonal shift, we’re delighted to launch Zadie Xa’s new film 'The Word for Water is Whale', as part of the Ways of Knowing programme. The film explores the interconnectedness of memory, travel and knowledge transmission through deep listening, required to further understand our world and those with whom we share it.

The film asks: what information - spiritual, technological or otherwise - happens at a cellular level as sonic waves ebb and flow across water? What are the unearthed narratives and secrets that can be gleaned from the rumbling frequencies of the marine world?

Dive into Zadie’s work on our website and stay tuned for a live in-conversation event with the artist on 15 July: http://ow.ly/4vUn50Ff8mT

Co-commissioned by the 13th Shanghai Biennale and Whitechapel Gallery.

13/06/2021

Join us next Thursday for the next Ways of Knowing event with Cristina Iglesias in conversation with Whitechapel Gallery Director Iwona Blazwick and Richard Noble to discuss her new monograph, Liquid Sculpture, and her latest commissions.

Cristina Iglesias’ horizontal fountains, submerged rooms and tropical mazes bring together language, architecture and plants to create immersive spaces of thought. Whether building undersea architectures for marine life or revealing underground rivers in busy urban centres, the power and presence of water is central to her practice.

Book your free ticket to the event and find out more about Cristina on our website: http://ow.ly/Rs1Q50F8vAp

Join us next Thursday for the next Ways of Knowing event with Cristina Iglesias in conversation with Whitechapel Gallery Director Iwona Blazwick and Richard Noble to discuss her new monograph, Liquid Sculpture, and her latest commissions.

Cristina Iglesias’ horizontal fountains, submerged rooms and tropical mazes bring together language, architecture and plants to create immersive spaces of thought. Whether building undersea architectures for marine life or revealing underground rivers in busy urban centres, the power and presence of water is central to her practice.

Book your free ticket to the event and find out more about Cristina on our website: http://ow.ly/Rs1Q50F8vAp

12/06/2021

Inspired by the colourful, eye-catching artworks within our current exhibition, Eileen Agar: Angel of Anarchy, our Education team has developed a group activity pack targeted towards storytellers of all ages.

The guided resource takes you through Eileen Agar’s experimental text, A Journey Through the Eye. Get your creative juices flowing and kickstart your own surreal stories based on the images and themes throughout Agar’s work.

Head to our website to download a full PDF of the activity pack and discover more resources for groups of all ages: http://ow.ly/IPoX50F8vfD

When you’re finished, we’d be thrilled to read your creations!
Please do feel free to share them with us on social media.

Inspired by the colourful, eye-catching artworks within our current exhibition, Eileen Agar: Angel of Anarchy, our Education team has developed a group activity pack targeted towards storytellers of all ages.

The guided resource takes you through Eileen Agar’s experimental text, A Journey Through the Eye. Get your creative juices flowing and kickstart your own surreal stories based on the images and themes throughout Agar’s work.

Head to our website to download a full PDF of the activity pack and discover more resources for groups of all ages: http://ow.ly/IPoX50F8vfD

When you’re finished, we’d be thrilled to read your creations!
Please do feel free to share them with us on social media.

09/06/2021

Postcards from the Diaspora - Whitechapel Gallery

Join us tomorrow at 6.30pm GMT for the next Postcards from the Diaspora: Conversations on Journaling event with Numbi Arts led by Hudda Khaireh, an independent researcher and artist with a background in Public International Law.

This session will present some of the ideas of poet and theorist Kamau Brathwaite together with Somali folk knowledge to explore the term ‘diaspora’; unpack its meaning and discuss how effective it is to describe the experiences of Black people living in the UK. Using poetry and water as medium, this session will invite participants to share their ideas in poetic form: tidaletically.

This event is free, booking is required: http://ow.ly/UnC350F6k5H

This session will present some of the ideas of poet and theorist Kamau Brathwaite together with Somali folk knowledge to explore the term ‘diaspora’; unpack its meaning and discuss how effective it is to describe the experiences of Black people living in the UK

08/06/2021

We are delighted to announce that 46 artists have been selected for The London Open 2022, bringing together a vibrant and diverse array of contemporary art being made in the capital today. The selected artists work across London’s boroughs, drawing on the experience of living in a global city now.

Delayed to summer 2022 due to the pandemic, the exhibition is set to feature works made since 2018 in all media including painting, sculpture, print, photography, film, sound, digital media, performance and installation.

Find out more about the selected artists on our website: http://ow.ly/wOiP50F5DDj

We are delighted to announce that 46 artists have been selected for The London Open 2022, bringing together a vibrant and diverse array of contemporary art being made in the capital today. The selected artists work across London’s boroughs, drawing on the experience of living in a global city now.

Delayed to summer 2022 due to the pandemic, the exhibition is set to feature works made since 2018 in all media including painting, sculpture, print, photography, film, sound, digital media, performance and installation.

Find out more about the selected artists on our website: http://ow.ly/wOiP50F5DDj

08/06/2021

Three new films are now screening online and on-site as part of the ongoing Artists' Film International project.

Nude performers dive into the unknown in Torontoides (2019) by Julia Sbriller and Joaquín Wall, challenging the laws of planetary physics. In What Has Left Since we Left (2020) by Giulio Squillacciotti the last three countries left in the European Union try to overcome their feeling of loss for a Europe that doesn’t exist anymore with the help of a British intepreter. Queer cowboys and builders are invited by Kerstin Honeit in my castle your castle (2017) to the debate on the reconstruction of the Berlin Palace on the foundations of the Palace of the Republic, the seat of the former GDR.

Book a ticket for our free displays or head our website to watch the films and find out more about the artists' inspiration through a series of short Q&As: http://ow.ly/YOGp50F5jmU

05/06/2021

In celebration of World Environment Day, we’re sharing past recordings of this season’s Ways of Knowing events on our Blog. Through an artist-focused programme of talks, films, seminars, workshops, performances and online projects, Ways of Knowing dedicates its first season this summer to Water/Fluidity, at a moment when our connections to water and marine life are arguably at their most strained.

Ways of Knowing is a programme of art and ideas bringing us into dialogue with alternative ways of thinking about our relationship to the world. Through an emerging and inter-connected programme of live events and digital projects which centre otherwise peripheral knowledge, the series questions what we can know and how we can come to know it.

Plunge into the fluid imaginations of each event and be sure to book your tickets for the next events in the series: http://ow.ly/JMOB50F3Jlb

In celebration of World Environment Day, we’re sharing past recordings of this season’s Ways of Knowing events on our Blog. Through an artist-focused programme of talks, films, seminars, workshops, performances and online projects, Ways of Knowing dedicates its first season this summer to Water/Fluidity, at a moment when our connections to water and marine life are arguably at their most strained.

Ways of Knowing is a programme of art and ideas bringing us into dialogue with alternative ways of thinking about our relationship to the world. Through an emerging and inter-connected programme of live events and digital projects which centre otherwise peripheral knowledge, the series questions what we can know and how we can come to know it.

Plunge into the fluid imaginations of each event and be sure to book your tickets for the next events in the series: http://ow.ly/JMOB50F3Jlb

04/06/2021

"Life's meaning is lost without the spirit of play." - Eileen Agar

As one of the most under-represented of all British artists, Eileen Agar "painted scenes of indelible strangeness, constructed collages out of wallpaper, foliage and lino, fashioned ceremonial hats – including one to wear when eating bouillabaisse, made from an upturned cork basket stuck with crustacean shells" (The Observer).

All of these works and more are on view in our current exhibition, Eileen Agar: Angel of Anarchy. Make sure to book your visit now to encounter the artist's dynamic and colourful imagination in the largest retrospective of her work to date.

"Life's meaning is lost without the spirit of play." - Eileen Agar

As one of the most under-represented of all British artists, Eileen Agar "painted scenes of indelible strangeness, constructed collages out of wallpaper, foliage and lino, fashioned ceremonial hats – including one to wear when eating bouillabaisse, made from an upturned cork basket stuck with crustacean shells" (The Observer).

All of these works and more are on view in our current exhibition, Eileen Agar: Angel of Anarchy. Make sure to book your visit now to encounter the artist's dynamic and colourful imagination in the largest retrospective of her work to date.

03/06/2021

Art is back! Can you believe it? Alongside Whitechapel Gallery, several of our neighbouring East End galleries have re-opened their doors with an intriguing assembly of exhibitions this month.

For the last purely digital edition of First Thursdays, we partnered with Kate MacGarry, BEERS London and HOXTON 253, bringing you enough painting, sculpture and photography to make up for this past year.

Kate MacGarry presents the first solo presentation of Rana Begum celebrating the artist’s ongoing investigation into the interaction between colour, light and form and how this operates within both two and three dimensional space.

BEERS London argue that we have all undergone a revolutionary period unprecedented in modern times. In an ongoing solo show by Jonni Cheatwood, both the Covid-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement have contributed to forming the basis of a new body of work. “My motivation here is to explore expressions in the social struggle, the nature of reality,” Cheatwood says from his home in Los Angeles. “It’s basically self-retrospective.”

In Absolutely Augmented Reality, American filmmaker, writer and artist Kuzma Vostrikov and Chinese multimedia artist Ajuan Song explore the intersection of fine art and photography through a series of saturated theatrical and symbolic images. Their photography presents a dream world of strange and alluring portraiture, accompanied by a host of archetypal images, hybrid creatures, quirky motifs and canonical postures.

To find out more about the First Thursday partners this month, head over to our blog: http://ow.ly/2fVP50F2kjt

02/06/2021

Hay Festival 2021 - Hay Festival

Your culture needs you!

Tomorrow Whitechapel Gallery Director Iwona Blazwick will be speaking at the Hay Festival about securing the future of cultural institutions in times of crisis. Follow the link below to register for the free event, which kicks off at 5pm BST on the Baillie Gifford Digital Stage.

Moderated by former Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, Ed Vaizey, the panel discussion will consider how luxury brands can lend their support to the arts. Guest speakers include Neil Mendoza, Commissioner for Cultural Recovery and Renewal and Provost of Oriel College, Emma Rickett, Global Lifestyle Communications Manager of Rolls-Royce and Nina Plowman is managing partner at top PR agency Cultural Comms.

Register here: http://ow.ly/R5TI50F1tjp

Hay Festival 2021

02/06/2021

Have you visited the new Desde el Salón (From the Living Room) exhibition yet?

In this second artist-curated display, Sol Calero explores a myriad paintings, sculptures, textiles, ceramics and photographs borrowed from Hiscox’s international offices. Significant works of art by Joan Miró, Annie Leibovitz, Sarrah Morris, John Baldessari and more are on public display for the first time.

Berlin-based artist Sol Calero, whose own work takes the form of brightly coloured, immersive installations, transforms the gallery space into a densely-hung environment in celebration of the natural world. The consecutive exhibition series forms part of the Gallery’s ongoing commitment to showing rarely seen public and private collections.

What are you waiting for, book your visit to see our free displays now: http://ow.ly/wTYv50F18Li

Have you visited the new Desde el Salón (From the Living Room) exhibition yet?

In this second artist-curated display, Sol Calero explores a myriad paintings, sculptures, textiles, ceramics and photographs borrowed from Hiscox’s international offices. Significant works of art by Joan Miró, Annie Leibovitz, Sarrah Morris, John Baldessari and more are on public display for the first time.

Berlin-based artist Sol Calero, whose own work takes the form of brightly coloured, immersive installations, transforms the gallery space into a densely-hung environment in celebration of the natural world. The consecutive exhibition series forms part of the Gallery’s ongoing commitment to showing rarely seen public and private collections.

What are you waiting for, book your visit to see our free displays now: http://ow.ly/wTYv50F18Li

01/06/2021

We are delighted to announce that Emma Talbot, winner of the 8th edition of the Max Mara Art Prize for Women, will travel to Italy this month to begin her six-month residency organised by the Collezione Maramotti.

The Prize, which supports UK-based female artists, provides the winner an opportunity to develop her career as an artist through a fully-funded, bespoke Italian residency. For Emma, this will culminate in a solo exhibition featuring a new body of work to be shown first at Whitechapel Gallery and then at Collezione Maramotti in 2022.

Due to the pandemic, Emma's residency could not take place in 2020, as planned. Pending travel restrictions and government advice, she'll now travel to Reggio Emilia, Catania and Rome from June - December 2021, allowing her to research classical mythology, textile craftsmanship and permaculture across treasured historic sites and institutions.

Bon voyage, Emma! We can't wait to hear all about your adventures.

We are delighted to announce that Emma Talbot, winner of the 8th edition of the Max Mara Art Prize for Women, will travel to Italy this month to begin her six-month residency organised by the Collezione Maramotti.

The Prize, which supports UK-based female artists, provides the winner an opportunity to develop her career as an artist through a fully-funded, bespoke Italian residency. For Emma, this will culminate in a solo exhibition featuring a new body of work to be shown first at Whitechapel Gallery and then at Collezione Maramotti in 2022.

Due to the pandemic, Emma's residency could not take place in 2020, as planned. Pending travel restrictions and government advice, she'll now travel to Reggio Emilia, Catania and Rome from June - December 2021, allowing her to research classical mythology, textile craftsmanship and permaculture across treasured historic sites and institutions.

Bon voyage, Emma! We can't wait to hear all about your adventures.