Two new exhibitions have opened at Liverpool’s Tate art gallery as part of its new 2014 spring season.
‘Keywords: Art, Culture and Society in 1980s’ Britain’ is a display of art based on famous academic writing by Raymond Williams in his 1976 book, Keywords.
The exhibition spans 20 years and looks at some of the direct impacts on culture during the 80s, including the miners’ strike, race riots and the rise of feminism.
It is made up of the work of a generation of British artists, who pick up on the ideas that cultural theorists were exploring at the time.
Gavin Delahunty, Head of Exhibitions at Tate Liverpool, told JMU Journalism: “There are a number of works which are uniquely represented, such as Sunil Gupta’s controversial ‘London Gay Switchboard 1980’.”
The exhibition also holds some rarely-seen artwork, with Helen Chadwick’s ‘Carcass 1986’ being displayed for the first time since its premiere in the 80s.
Mr Delahunty added: “I am sure visitors to the exhibition will enjoy these fascinating artworks that give a unique opportunity to explore the words in Raymond William’s seminal book.”
The Keywords presentation is complemented by the ‘Richard Hawkins: Hijikata Twist’, presenting both new and old work of Hawkins.
The Los Angeles-based artist was commissioned for the Tate for the first museum exhibition of his work in the UK. It is supported by works by artists including Francis Bacon and Willem De Kooning.
Darren Pih, Exhibitions and Displays Curator at the Tate, told JMU Journalism: “It reveals their surprising influence on iconic Japanese artist, Tatsumi Hijikata.
“The new and recent works by Hawkins in the exhibition continue this journey and I am sure visitors will enjoy exploring further correspondences across art-forms and understanding Hijikata’s influences on Hawkins’ own work.”
The exhibitions have been programmed to work in parallel and will be open for viewing until May 11th 2014.