Crossing Borders: Internationalism in Modern British Art
A museum-styled exhibition with works contributed by British Art Fair exhibitors curated by Monica Bohm-Duchen and Colin Gleadell
Over fifty artists who came from all over the world during the 20th century to live and work in Britain and contributed significantly to its visual culture are the subject of a wide-ranging exhibition, Crossing Borders: Internationalism in Modern British Art, at this year’s British Art Fair.
Charlie Phillips
Notting Hill Couple - The sitters, Anita Santiago and Osmond (Gus) Philip, 1968
Silver Gelatin Print
30.5 x 40.6 cms
Courtesy of Centre for British Photography
Comprising a lively mixture of media – from small works on paper and photographs to large paintings and bronze sculptures – and co-curated by British Art Fair advisory committee member, art columnist Colin Gleadell and art historian Monica Bohm-Duchen, Crossing Borders sets out to reveal the diversity and internationalism that changed the face of Modern British Art. Each of the artists represented came to Britain for different reasons, though some can be grouped together. The exhibition is therefore divided into three main sections. The first covers Jewish immigrant artists, the second section focuses on immigration from countries which share histories as British and other European colonies and the third features artists from elsewhere across the world who chose to make the UK their home, mainly in the second half of the 20th century.
Each section is accompanied by a detailed text. Part I is titled 20th Century British Jewish Artists and features figures both familiar – among them, David Bomberg and Mark Gertler from the first wave of immigrants, and Lucian Freud and Frank Auerbach from the second - and less familiar – among these, Clara Klinghoffer, Peter Kinley and Henry Inlander. Read More …
Part II, titled Immigration and Diversity in the Post-War British Art World, comprises work by twenty artists who arrived in the UK from India, Pakistan, Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Ghana, Sudan, Algeria, South Africa and the Caribbean, countries which had connections to Britain through their colonial histories. Artists featured in this section include Rasheed Araeen, Avinash Chandra, Tam Joseph, Houria Niati and Sidney Nolan. Read More …
The third and final section of Crossing Borders, titled Going Global, looks beyond the first two sections to the diverse array of artists who arrived from as far afield as Taiwan and America, consolidate Britain’s place in the truly global art ecosystem that in the early 21st century we take almost for granted. This section includes work by R B Kitaj, Liliane Lijn, Kim Lim and Richard Lin, among others. Read More …
Crossing Borders is a fair-wide collaboration, as British Art Fair’s exhibitors, past and present, have submitted works to the curators for selection for the exhibition. While it cannot claim to be comprehensive, the show will make for visually stimulating and thought-provoking viewing. All works are for sale.
-ENDS-
Notes to Editors: All works in Crossing Borders have been submitted by British Art Fair exhibitors. Contributing Galleries: Austin/Desmond* Ben Uri Gallery, Broadbent Gallery* Christopher Kingzett* Dominic Kemp* Grosvenor Gallery, Gwen Hughes * Jack Wakefield, James Hyman* Jenna Burlingham* Jonathan Clarke* Julian Page* Kaye Michie* Kynance Fine Art, Middlemarch Fine Art* October Gallery, Offer Waterman, Osborne Samuel* Piano Nobile, Richard Saltoun, Simon Hilton The Gustav Metzger Estate, Timothy Taylor, Upstone* Whitford Fine Art* * = exhibiting in 2023.
Curators
Monica Bohm-Duchen is a London-based art historian, author, lecturer and exhibition curator. She has worked for Tate Britain, the National Gallery, the Open University, the Courtauld Institute of Art, Sotheby's Institute of Art and Birkbeck, University of London, among other national institutions. The exhibitions she has curated or co-curated include Art in Exile in Great Britain, 1933-1945 (London and Berlin, 1985-86), After Auschwitz: Responses to the Holocaust in Contemporary Art, (UK tour and Potsdam, 1995), Rubies and Rebels: Jewish Female Identity in Contemporary British Art, (Barbican, 1996-97) and Life? or Theatre? The Work of Charlotte Salomon (Royal Academy of Arts, 1998). She is the founding director of the ongoing Insiders/Outsiders project and editor of its companion volume, Insiders/Outsiders: Refugees from Nazi Europe and their Contribution to British Visual Culture (2019).
Colin Gleadell is the art market columnist for The Daily Telegraph and a regular contributor to Artnet News, Art Monthly, and Artsy. Prior to The Telegraph, he worked for the Paul Mellon Foundation for British Art as a researcher, the Crane Kalman Gallery as Gallery Manager, and Bonhams auctioneers as Head of Modern Pictures. He worked for ten years (1986 – 1997) as the features editor of Galleries Magazine, whilst also contributing to leading art market publications such as Art & Auction and Art News where he was the London correspondent of the Art Newsletter. He Introduced Sister Wendy Beckett to the BBC for whom he worked as a consultant on market programmes such as the Relative Values series (1991). He also worked as an art market consultant for Channel 4 News. Colin Gleadell was on the original advisory committee for the 20th Century British Art Fair in 1988, where he has served ever since as it changed its name to the 20/21 British Art Fair, and now British Art Fair.
BRITISH ART FAIR
28 September – 1 October 2023 The 32nd edition of British Art Fair takes place this autumn presenting its annual showcase of the very best Modern British and Contemporary British Art, elegantly installed throughout the museum-style interiors of Saatchi Gallery, London. Since 1988 British Art Fair has been the flagship fair for Modern British Art, representing celebrated artists including Bridget Riley, Francis Bacon, Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, David Hockney, Terry Frost, John Piper and many more, with fine and rare works released to the art market especially for the event.
Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York HQ, King’s Road, London SW3 4RY
www.britishartfair.co.uk
Instagram: @britishartfair
Facebook: @britishartfair
Twitter: @BritishArtFair #BAF23 #BritishArtFair
Opening Hours
Collectors' Preview, Thursday 28 September, 12noon – 9pm
Friday 29 September, 11am – 8pm
Saturday 30 September, 11am – 6pm
Sunday 1 October, 11am – 5pm Last entry is half an hour before the fair is due to close.
Ticketing
Tickets are for sale at https://bit.ly/BAF23
Tickets Collectors' Preview: £50
General Admission: £20
Concessions: £18; Under 16s: Free (booking required and must be accompanied by an adult). Prices listed above are not inclusive of booking fees.
Saatchi Gallery
Since 1985, Saatchi Gallery has provided an innovative platform for contemporary art. Exhibitions have presented works by largely unseen young artists, or by international artists whose work has been rarely or never exhibited in the UK. This approach has made the Gallery one of the most recognised names in contemporary art. Since moving to its current 70,000 square feet space in the Duke of York’s Headquarters in Chelsea, London, the Gallery has welcomed over 10 million visitors. The Gallery hosts thousands of school visits annually and has over 6 million followers on social media. In 2019, Charles Saatchi formally stepped back from his management of Saatchi Gallery with the organisation beginning a new chapter in its history as a fully independent registered charity. Saatchi Gallery has an expansive education and learning programme and partners with a wide variety of schools, colleges, universities and community organisations.
Talk by Monica Bohm-Duchen
Friday 29 September 4pm Monica Bohm-Duchen, will give a talk on Crossing Borders, highlighting and contextualising key works that tell a story of twentieth century British art hugely enriched by the presence of artists from a wide range of geographical and cultural backgrounds. For press tickets, please email Jessica@britishartfair.co.uk
Press Links
Crossing Borders - Catalogue Texts and Further information: https:// www.britishartfair.co.uk/whats-on/crossing-borders Crossing Borders Press Images: https://bit.ly/BAFCBPressImages General British Art Fair Press Release: https://bit.ly/BAF23PR Book Press Tickets for British Art Fair
Press Contact: Jessica Wood Head of Communications, British Art Fair jessica@britishartfair.co.uk Tel: + 44 (0)7939 226988