This major exhibition of contemporary art from Britain was curated for the British Council by curator Katerina Gregos, formerly Director of the Deste Foundation, Athens. Britannia Works was conceived at a time when Britain’s art scene and its homogenising, publicity-driven tendencies came under increasing criticism. The exhibition presents a wide cross-section of art by artists of different ethnic origins, in the so-called post-‘yBa’ era.  For the majority of the artists, this was their first showing in Greece.

The exhibition includes primarily young and emerging artists, as well as a handful of more established artists who were not aligned with the ‘yBa’ phenomenon but have consistently produced work of distinction. Presenting work in a range of media and diverse visual languages, Britannia Works aims to generate an open-ended forum of discussion on art being produced in Britain today, but also hopes to pinpoint key areas of interest currently informing artists’ practice. These areas range from a renewed concern with the possibilities of painting and sculpture and the legacy of modernism, to a continuing preoccupation with contemporary culture, socially-engaged art practice, or art that examines different facets of the everyday.   

A bilingual (English/Greek) colour catalogue was published to accompany the exhibition.

Artists included are Faisal Abdu’ Allah, Shahin Afrassiabi, Artlab, Black Audio Film Collective, Matt Bryans, Jeremy Deller, Nick Evans, Julie Henry, Sophie Von Hellerman, Marine Hugonnier, Runa Islam, Mark Leckey, Camilla Løw, Hayley Newman, Rosalind Nashashibi, Toby Paterson, John Riddy, Zineb Sedira, George Shaw, David Shrigley, Dj Simpson, Tim Stoner, Mark Titchner, Nobuku Tsuchiya, Richard Wathen, Gary Webb and Shizuka Yokomizo.

Collection Artist(s)

Glossary

  • Contemporary

    Existing or coming into being at the same period; of today or of the present. The term that designates art being made today.

  • Curator

    A person who creates exhibitions or who is employed to look after and research museum objects.

  • Film

    A transparent, flexible plastic material, usually of cellulose acetate or polyester, on which light-sensitive emulsion is coated, or on which an image can be formed by various transfer processes.

  • Painting

    Work of art made with paint on a surface. Often the surface, also called a support, is a tightly stretched piece of canvas, paper or a wooden panel. Painting involves a wide range of techniques and materials, along with the artist's intellectual concerns effecting the content of a work.

  • Sculpture

    A three-dimensional work of art. Such works may be carved, modelled, constructed, or cast. Sculptures can also be described as assemblage, in the round, relief, and made in a huge variety of media. Contemporary practice also includes live elements, as in Gilbert & George 'Living Sculpture' as well as broadcast work, radio or sound sculpture.