Whitechapel Gallery


The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery in Whitechapel on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, it was opened in 1901 as one of the first publicly funded galleries for temporary exhibitions in London. In 2009 it approximately doubled in size by incorporating the adjacent former Passmore Edwards library building. It exhibits the work of contemporary artists, as well as organising retrospective exhibitions and shows that are of interest to the local community.

History

The Whitechapel Gallery exhibited Pablo Picasso's Guernica in 1938 as part of a touring exhibition organised by Roland Penrose to protest against the Spanish Civil War.
The Whitechapel Gallery played an important part in the history of post-war British art. Several important exhibitions were held at the Whitechapel Gallery including This is Tomorrow in 1956, the first UK exhibition by Mark Rothko in 1961, and in 1964 The New Generation show which featured John Hoyland, Bridget Riley, David Hockney and Patrick Caulfield among others.
Initiated by members of the Independent Group, the exhibition brought Pop Art to the general public as well as introducing some of the artists, concepts, designers and photographers that would define the Swinging Sixties.
Throughout its history, the Whitechapel Gallery had a series of open exhibitions that were a strong feature for the area's artist community, but by the early 1990s these open shows became less relevant as emerging artists moved to other areas.
In the late 1970s, the critical importance of the Whitechapel Gallery was displaced by newer venues such as the Hayward Gallery, but in the 1980s the Gallery enjoyed a resurgence under the Directorship of Nicholas Serota. The Whitechapel Gallery had a major refurbishment in 1986 and completed, in April 2009, a two-year programme of work to incorporate the former Passmore Edwards Library building next door, vacated when Whitechapel Idea Store opened. This has doubled the physical size of the Gallery and nearly tripled the available exhibition space, and now allows the Whitechapel Gallery to remain open to the public all year round.

Notable exhibitions

1908 – Muhammadan Art and Life in Turkey, Persia, Egypt, Morocco and India. Autumn Exhibition 23 October to 6 December. The opening day to the public was on 27th Ramadan. An advisory member was Syed Ameer Ali, who in 1910 was one of the main instigators of the London Mosque Fund, which went on to establish the nearby East London Mosque.
1956 – This is Tomorrow exhibit
1958 – American abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock
1961 – Mark Rothko. The installation of his work at the Whitechapel becomes his template for all subsequent shows
1964 – The New Generation – Painting – showcasing the work of John Hoyland, Patrick Caulfield, David Hockney, Paul Huxley, Alan Jones and Bridget Riley.
1965 – The New Generation – Sculpture – showcasing the work of Philip King, David Annesley, Michael Bolus, Tim Scott, William Tucker, Isaac Witkin
1970 and 1971 – David Hockney retrospective, first major shows of Gilbert & George and Richard Long
1982 – Frida Kahlo
'986 Victor Willing, a retrospective exhibition
1993 – The Whitechapel Gallery showcases Lucian Freud
2001 and 2002 – Liam Gillick and Nan Goldin stage their first major solo shows in the UK
2008 – Cornelia Parker's film Chomskian Abstract, featuring Noam Chomsky
2009 – Retrospective of Isa Genzken's work and solo shows for Sophie Calle and Elizabeth Peyton
2010 – Survey of Alice Neel's portraits in Britain
19–20 January 2011 the gallery hosted the inaugural Northern Future Forum gathering of prime ministers.
2011 – First UK survey of German artist Thomas Struth, one of the photographers of the late 20th century
2012 – A comprehensive survey of Turner Prize winning British artist Gillian Wearing
2013 – The first major solo exhibition in London for YBA artist Sarah Lucas
2014 – Five decade survey of North American Richard Tuttle, which was presented in conjunction with a major installation in Tate Modern's Turbine Hall and solo show for Dada pioneer Hannah Höch
2015 – The first show in Britain on Arab Modernism "Imperfect Chronology: Arab Art from the Modern to the Contemporary", from the Barjeel Art Foundation collection
2016 – A new commission by feminist activism art group Guerrilla Girls and major retrospective of British artist Eduardo Paolozzi
2017 – A major retrospective of German artist Thomas Ruff and solo show for British artist Benedict Drew
2018 – A solo show for Mark Dion and the first major UK survey of artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset

Education

Since 1923, art has been presented alongside education. A not-for-profit educational charity, the Whitechapel has pioneered artists' residencies in schools and other education innovations that have been adopted as models across the UK and internationally. The current education programme focuses on four main areas: schools & teachers, children & families, youth and lastly community.
Highlights include The NEON Curatorial Exchange which is delivered in partnership with NEON Organisation in Athens. It builds links between emerging curators in the UK and Greece, so that best practice can be shared and new ideas developed, with the aim of championing curatorial excellence. Since 2009 the gallery has invited a series of writers and artists to take up the position of Writer in Residence. The residency programme features discussions, performances and interventions, considering how writing is experienced through the lens of contemporary art.

Publications

In 2006 Whitechapel Gallery and MIT Press formed an editorial alliance to produce a new series of books entitled Documents of Contemporary Art.

Expansion

The Whitechapel reopened on 4 April 2009 after a two-year project, which approximately doubled the size of the Gallery by incorporating the adjacent former Passmore Edwards library building. The work cost approximately £13.5 million and was partly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. A full-size tapestry based on Pablo Picasso's Guernica, by and loaned from the United Nations Art Collection, was included in the inaugural exhibition by Goshka Macuga. and Isa Genzken.
As part of the expansion, a new Archive Gallery, a reading room and an archive repository have been created to support the Whitechapel's standing as an educational charity. The archives catalogue the very conception of the gallery, as well as the complete directors' files of correspondence which reveal the reasons behind key decisions in the Gallery's history.

Directors