ART

REALITY

10 Jul — 29 Nov 2015 at Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, United Kingdom


Paula Rego, Snare (1987) © Paula Rego, Courtesy Marlborough Fine Art

REALITY: Modern and Contemporary British Painting is a vibrant new exhibition which runs at the Walker Art Gallery from 10 July until 29 November 2015. Curated by artist Chris Stevens and organised by the Sainsbury Centre, the exhibition brings together over 50 works celebrating the strength of British painting, with some of the best and most influential artists of the last 60 years.

Major 20th-century artists are represented, such as Walter Sickert, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud and LS Lowry, alongside contemporary painters including John Keane, Ken Currie, Paula Rego and George Shaw.

Uncompromising and direct, the work of each artist represented retains a strong reference to the real world, ‘the stuff of life’. While, some might argue, painting has been eclipsed in the media in recent decades by minimal and conceptual art, installation, photography and film, REALITY testifies to the survival of painting as a medium and reveals the impact of British painting today.

Commenting on the exhibition, guest curator Chris Stevens, whose work also features in the exhibition, said: “It is an enormous privilege to bring together in one exhibition a group of artists who have been a major influence on my personal development as a painter.

“The painters in this exhibition have been selected under the banner of Realism through their interest in everyday subject matter. Each painter is figurative or representational in nature and yet REALITY will present an extraordinary overview of artists, all with highly individual approaches towards the making of a painting.”

The artists tackle a diverse range of subjects, referencing the body, relationships, history, politics, war, the urban environment and social issues. Despite these different references, the works are all united by two things: the harsh realities that have concerned key British artists over the decades, and the simple act of painting.

Ann Bukantas, Head of Fine Art at National Museums Liverpool, said: “REALITY presents a superb selection of modern and contemporary British art which we’re really looking forward to showcasing at the Gallery.

“The Walker Art Gallery has a long history of championing British painting, notably through the John Moores Painting Prize, which has provided a stage for some of today’s most renowned contemporary artists – some of whose work features in this incredibly exciting exhibition.”

The Walker Art Gallery, located on William Brown Street, Liverpool, is open daily from 10am-5pm. Entry to the Gallery and exhibitions is free. For more information, visit liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker

REALITY: Modern and Contemporary British Painting was organised by the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia.

REALITY: Modern and Contemporary British Painting features works from the following artists: Francis Bacon, Tony Bevan, John Bratby, Cecily Brown, Katarzyna Coleman, Graham Crowley, Ken Currie, Dexter Dalwood, Peter Doig, Lucian Freud, Gwen Hardie, Philip Harris, Clive Head, David Hepher, David Hockney, Luke Jackson, Chantal Joffe, John Keane, L.S. Lowry, Alan MacDonald, Jock McFadyen, Paula Rego, Ray Richardson, Terry Setch, George Shaw, Walter Sickert, Chris Stevens, Caroline Walker, Alison Watt, Carel Weig


Walker Art Gallery

William Brown Street

Liverpool L3 8EL United Kingdom

Ph. +44 (0)15 14784199

www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker

Opening hours

Daily from 10am to 5pm










Captions

  1. 1Jock McFadyen, The Street (1980) © Jock McFadyen

  2. 2George Shaw, Scenes from the Passion -The Path on the Edge (1997) © Royal College of Art

  3. 3Chris Stevens, The Age of Reason or Salem's Lot (2011) © Chris Stevens

  4. 4Caroline Walker, Consulting the Oracle (2013) © Caroline Walker

  5. 5Lucian Freud, Girl with Beret (1951-52), Manchester Art Gallery, UK © The Lucian Freud Archive Bridgeman Images

  6. 6Alan Macdonald, Spam Dragon (2013) © Alan Macdonald



Liverpool Echo

Reality in painting comes to Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery

16:00, 2 JULY 2015

BY CATHERINE JONES


Chris Stevens on his 'fantasy exhibition' of fellow British artis


Artist Chris Stevens in his studio.


Artist Chris Stevens describes the new show he’s curated for the Walker Art Gallery as “a fantasy exhibition”.

And with major 20th century names like Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon and LS Lowry included – alongside contemporary artists such as Paula Rego and George Shaw – you can understand why.

REALITY: Modern and Contemporary British Painting opens at the Walker Art Gallery next week.

The work of each artist represented in the show retains a strong reference to the real world, ‘the stuff of life’.

And while some might argue that painting has been eclipsed in recent decades by minimal and conceptual art, installation, photography and film, curator Chris hopes that REALITY will testify to the survival of painting as a medium and reveal the impact of British painting toda



The story of REALITY goes back eight years to when painter Chris was asked to curate a small figurative painting show for a gallery in London.

Subsequently talking to Paul Greenhalgh, the then director of Washington DC’s Corcoran Gallery, Chris says “I joked with him this show was pretty good and did he have a foyer or a toilet he could put it on in?!”

Greenhalgh loved the idea and Chris recalls: “I thought, I’m going to do a fantasy exhibition. I’m going to put together an exhibition of British painters who I think are great and who I’d love to exhibit with.

“I did it with the idea of me being in the show and hanging next to people like Francis Bacon and Lucien Freud and David Hockney, without ever thinking it could be possible to do this.”

While circumstances meant the plan for a bigger exhibition in the US never came to fruition, it was resurrected when Paul Greenhalgh moved to the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts in Norwich, and suggested Chris pitch the show to them there.

“They just went straight into overdrive and collected all the works,” Chris says. “There was one artist I wanted in there but just couldn’t get, which is Peter Doig.

“And in fact the work I wanted was at the Walker Art Gallery, and they had lent it out to someone else so we couldn’t have it. But it’s coming into the show this time, which is fantastic.”

REALITY went on show in Norwich last autumn, and now it’s coming to Liverpool.



The Street (1980), Jock McFadyen On show in the REALITY exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery © Jock McFadyen


The artists included in the show tackle a diverse range of subjects, referencing the body, relationships, history, politics, war, the urban environment and social issues.

Despite these different references, the works are all united by two things: the harsh realities that have concerned key British artists over the decades, and the simple act of painting.

Chris, who has several of his own works in the show and maintains that his first job is painting not curating, adds: “There are a whole load of artists in there who are British masters. And then there are the kind of artists people aren’t really aware of, except they’re pretty mainstream, like Jock McFadyen.”

Ann Bukantas, NML head of fine, says: “The Walker Art Gallery has a long history of championing British painting, notably through the John Moores Painting Prize, which has provided a stage for some of today’s most renowned contemporary artists – some of whose work features in this incredibly exciting exhibition.”

REALITY: Modern and Contemporary British Painting is at the Walker Art Gallery from July 10 to November 29.










 

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