MY YARD
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UNTITLED (ROCK WAITING) 1997 David Shrigley (1968 – ) P7108 © David Shrigley
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PINT BEER MUG Leach Pottery C409 © The Artist's Estate
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CUP AND SAUCER c 1957 Lucie Rie (1902 – 1995) C562/A-B © The Artists' Estate
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KIDS' DEN IN GARAGE, MOZART STREET, GRANBY, LIVERPOOL 8 1975 Paul Trevor (1947 – ) P4628 © The Artist
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BOAT RACE DAY BOWL 1938 Eric Ravilious (1903 – 1942) C191
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ICI SHED 1948 1948 Ben Nicholson (1894 – 1982) P2758 © Angela Verren Taunt 2015. All rights reserved, DACS
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STUDY FROM THE RED CAUSEWAY SERIES 1976-77 Boyle Family P3173 © Boyle Family. All rights reserved, DACS 2023.
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LONDON BOMBED SITE (ST NICHOLAS COLE ABBEY AND BOW CHURCH) 1946 Sir William Coldstream (1906 – 1987) P6 © Courtesy of the artist's estate/ The Bridgeman Art Library
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PORT GLASGOW CEMETERY 1947 Sir Stanley Spencer (1891 – 1959) P61 © Estate of Stanley Spencer. All Rights Reserved 2023 / Bridgeman Images
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INDUSTRIAL CITY 1948 Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887 – 1976) P30 © The Estate of L.S. Lowry. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2023.
This exhibition has ended up being about home. We had no plan to make another show about the UK but I suppose given the purpose and history of the British Council Collection and our separate enthusiasms, it was sort of always going to happen. The subject may not be immediately recognisable though (especially to anyone born after 1970), as in the 1980's the UK got a sort of TV makeover - a lick of paint and some up-lighters etc. - but the works we are showing indicate a Britain just below the plasterboard of this ‘flip’ job, a draughty and slightly damp property with foundations that you feel connect it, back through mud and bones, to all you think of when you talk of British history. It is a very physical connection and it feels different from the connection we have to our more recent history, which we seem to be sort of observing like tourists. This feeling may be because our exposure to the kinds of works we are presenting was from before the explosion of communications of recent years, or it may just be a sign of ageing and a curmudgeonly disposition toward the less slick. In either case it is heartening that there is a forthright national collection of art, with the purpose of promoting British culture around the world that has the depth and spirit to show many versions of OUR YARD.
Jeremy Deller and Alan Kane
Please note that the Whitechapel Gallery is closed over the Christmas break from 6pm, Wednesday 23 December 2009 and will reopen at 11am, Saturday 2 January 2010.
Collection Artist(s)
- Keith Arnatt
- Derek Boshier
- Boyle Family
- Victor Burgin
- Sir William Coldstream
- Keith Coventry
- John Davies
- Spencer Gore
- David Hepher
- Leach Pottery
- Laurence Stephen Lowry
- Ben Nicholson
- Paul Noble
- Not Known
- Eric Ravilious
- David Rayson
- Lucie Rie
- David Shrigley
- Sir Stanley Spencer
- Paul Trevor
- Edward Wadsworth
- Geoffrey Whiting
- Stephen Willats