ArtLyst

A wonderful review entitled Curators of the Future Stage Major Courtauld Exhibition, written with just the right amount of tongue in cheek . Thank you to the ArtLyst.

“Every other year, coming on for two decades, the Courtauld Institute of Art has given over its East Wing to a student-run exhibition of contemporary art. It represents a sort of test run for the curators of the future, currently being incubated in one of the world’s leading art history institutions – that first flight into the world for which the students are being groomed. And it pays to watch this space, the very first exhibition in 1991 being curated by Joshua Compson – the man who would become a major champion of the YBAs –, and featuring work by artists such as Grayson Perry, Mark Wallinger, and Antony Gormley”.

Evening Standard

When faced with restrictions regarding the removal of the statues from the Courtauld foyer, EWX decided to make good of a difficult situation. The guerilla knitter Kirsty Howe has made some wonderful olympic themed knitwear for the classical nudes, turning the traditional works into something contemporary and comedic. Howe calls her practice “yarn bombing” and unsurprisingly the two pieces were quickly picked up by the Evening Standard.

AnOther Loves Us

AnOther Magazine have picked up on the EWX Gabriel Dawe Installation. Check out the amazing ‘AnOther Loves’ section of their website, full of weird, wonderful and artful images.

AnOther Feature

 

 

The Guardian

Some wonderful coverage for EWX and Gabriele Dawe, who has custom designed a 20 meter cotton installation for the exhibition. The feature will be in print on page 12 of the most current Guardian, you can also read it online here.

“The exhibition was planned, organised and fund raised by students at the Courtauld who have this year attracted 55 artists including Damien Hirst, Thomas Allen, Hugo Dalton, and Georgia Russell.

Dawe was suggested by a student who had spotted his work in Los Angeles last year. Like most of the artists, once they managed to get past the agent and gallery system, he agreed immediately. The Courtauld, a university internationally renowned for history of art and conservation, moved in 1989 to a wing of Somerset House. The East Wing exhibition was launched two years later by Joshua Compston, a student who went on to become a brilliant and maverick curator, and died of an accidental drugs overdose in 1996 aged 25. His first Courtauld exhibition – billed as the first contemporary art show in the space since the Royal Academy’s summer show was housed there in the 19th century – included Gary Hume, Gilbert and George, Langland and Bell, and a promising young painter called Damien Hirst.”

The Naming

As with all projects that amass such an abundance of minds, talents and areas of issue, coming up with a singular title to define East Wing 10 was no meager task. Deliberation followed discussion and dispute, but finally our efforts have been denominated under the heading ‘Material Matters’. Like the pun, we hope the title encourages a closer and more inquisitive look beneath the surface, a response we believe will also be stimulated at the exhibition itself.