Tate Britain to include more female artists in its permanent collection rehang
Tate Britain will undergo an extensive rehang of its permanent free collection under the direction of Alex Farquharson. A statement from the gallery reads: “On 23 May, Tate Britain will open a complete rehang of its free collection displays. This will be the first time in ten years that the national collection of British art is presented anew.”
The new display will include 800 works from 350 artists, with half of these created by female artists. The statement continued: “Half the contemporary artists on display will be women, from Bridget Riley and Tracey Emin to Kudzanai-Violet Hwami and Lydia Ourahmane. Tate’s longstanding commitment to diversifying its collection means the gallery can also showcase great women artists from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, including many who have never been shown at Tate before.”
Art such as A Fisher Girl’s Light, A Pilgrim of Volendam returning from Kevelaer (1899) by Marianne Stokes, one of Victorian England’s leading female painters, will be exhibited in the new collection. Moreover, contemporary works by artists such as Rachel Jones (2021’s lick your teeth, they so clutch) will also be displayed.
Two climbable sculptures made of concrete created by Sarah Lucas have been commissioned to stand on the gallery’s front lawn. Glasgow-based artist France-Lise McGurn will provide a new ceiling painting for the Djanogly Café.
Vong Phaophanit’s Neon Rice Field (1993) will join the new permanent collection, as will Anya Gallaccio’s Preserve ‘beauty’ (1991-2003). Additionally, work by the likes of Derek Jarman, Kim Lim, Donald Locke and Takis will find a home in Tate Britain.
The popular gallery spaces dedicated to the Pre-Raphaelites and JMW Turner will be rehung, and new rooms will be dedicated to William Blake and John Constable. In a statement, Polly Staple, the gallery’s director of British Art, explained: “Tate Britain’s new displays will embody our commitment to expanding the canon and diversifying British art history.”
Recently, the gallery commissioned Keith Piper to produce a “site specific installation” to replace The Expedition in Pursuit of Rare Meats (1927) by Rex Whistler, which previously hung in the Rex Whistler Restaurant and features offensive imagery of an enslaved black child and Chinese caricatures. Thus, according to The Art Newspaper, the artist has been instructed to create a work that “will critically engage with the mural’s history and content, including its racist imagery.”
