VA13: Turner CONTEMPORARY discussion WHAT IS ART?
This talk, featured a number of established artists, critics and curators, who considered how art is defined and who is understood to be an artist. Many important exhibitions have raised these questions recently, including Massimiliano Gioni's The Encyclopedic Palace and The Museum of Everything’s Il Palazzo di Everything at the Venice Biennale and the Hayward Gallery’s The Alternative Guide to the Universe, and Jeremy Deller’s English Magic at the British Pavilion (travelling to Turner Contemporary in 2013). All of which included work by self-taught artists, craft makers, and others not usually seen in major art exhibitions.
The event followed on from Venice Agendas, a series of discussions, events and performances examining issues of live art and art and politics during the preview week of the 55th Venice Biennale. It brings these hot topics direct to Turner Contemporary.
Taking a ‘Question Time’ format, the audience will be invited to debate these sticky issues with the panel.
Invited speakers include:
Phyllida Barlow, artist,
James Brett, Director of the Museum of Everything;
Tony Heaton, Chief Executive of SHAPE;
Alan Kane, artist
Sam Thorne, Associate Editor, Frieze magazine
Jean Wainwright, writer and curator.
Lauren Wright, curator at Turner Contemporary
Chaired by critic Sacha Craddock.
What is Art? Panel Discussion – Turner Contemporary, Margate – 14th November 2013
What is art? is a reoccurring question in contemporary art by artists, critics and its audience alike. How art is defined and who is understood to be an artist formed the basis of this outcome debate where we aimed to explore further these questions at Turner Contemporary – this topical debate is also seen Grayson Perry tackling these eternal questions in his Reith lectures. It was important that the audience’s views were at the centre of this event thus establishing a format where the audience was able to hear from a panel of artists, critics and curators and directly pose their own views and questions through a ‘Question Time’ style event. Reflecting on ideas raised at recent exhibitions, including Curiosity: Art and the Pleasures of Knowing at Turner Contemporary, Jeremy Deller's English Magic at the 2013 Venice Biennale (which will be exhibited at Turner Contemporary in 2014), Massimiliano Gioni's The Encyclopedic Palace at the Venice Biennale and the Hayward Gallery’s The Alternative Guide to the Universe, this talk follows on from Venice Agendas, a series of discussions, events and performances examining issues of live art and art and politics during the preview week of the 55th Venice Biennale, 2013.