Everything Old was Once New
Contemporary art at the Greyfriars: 12 June – 15 December
2012
‘TRACEY EMIN HERE TO STAY’ is not what you would expect to
see appliqued onto a quilt adorning the bed of a 15th century
National Trust property, but that’s what you will find at Greyfriars in
Worcester this year.
Emin’s quilt is one of 13 works by contemporary artists that
form the exhibition ‘Everything Old was
Once New’. It is part of the National Trust’s nationwide project in
collaboration with Arts Council England Trust
New Art, which aims to “place new art in historical settings, to keep them
inspiring and alive”.
Siblings Matley and Elsie Moore rescued Greyfriars from
demolition in the mid-20th century and restored and furnished the home by
recycling materials and objects found elsewhere.
The pieces from the Arts Council Collection cleverly
highlight the house’s existing objects by exploring the themes of reuse and
repair. These are particularly prevalent in the work of Alek O. and Christine
Borland. The former has created an embroidered panel from discarded gloves
entitled ‘Edward Higgins White III’
the name of the first man to ‘walk’ in space who lost one of his gloves whilst
doing so. Borland has repaired a ‘Blanket
Used on Police Firing Range, Berlin’ by darning its bullet holes, reminiscent
of a mother healing wounds, and living with scars. Both pieces also allude to
Worcester’s past – its renowned glove making trade and the battle scars left by
the Civil War.
The fight against deterioration and destruction is
unremitting for conservation teams in National Trust properties. Works by Mark
Wallinger and Kathy Prendergast focus on destructive pests. Wallinger’s ‘King Edward and The Colorado Beetle’ is
particularly clever in using a potato print technique to represent the insect
that attacks the potato.
‘Can love remember the
question and the answer’ is Anya Gallaccio’s melancholy valentine to decay.
Re-made at every exhibition, Gallaccio seals sixty red gerbera flowers between
glass panels in a wooden door, and then leaves them to deteriorate. The
decomposition of the flowers serves as a reminder that decay is a natural
process.
The act of preservation is explored by Richard Woods in ‘Renovated Carpet No.1’: a carpet that
has been painted over in the same pattern then varnished to create a solid,
shiny surface. The object is simultaneously protected and stripped of its
essence.
But perhaps Tracey Emin’s quilt presents the most controversial
issue for the National Trust; ‘The Simple
Truth’ was never intended for display, it was created by Emin for her own
use. Much like other properties owned by the National Trust that are on display
for the public, but no longer homes for the people who made them
The exhibition not only allows the public to view the
original artefacts of the property in a new light, but also reasserts that
skill and craftsmanship still goes into the works of artists today. The very
title ‘Everything Old was Once New’
argues the point that many now revered artworks were once new and seen as
shocking in the same way that contemporary art is often viewed.
One of the aims of Trust New Art described by Ann Jones,
Curator at the Arts Council Collection was to “stimulate debate about the role
of contemporary art within an historic context”. Judging by the heated debate
on the comments board at Greyfriars, I think they have achieved that.
List of Works:
Anya Gallaccio, ‘Can
love remember the question and the answer’ (2003)
Simon Periton, ‘SP’
(1995)
Louise Hopkins, ‘Aurora
13’ (1995-96)
Richard Woods, ‘Renovated
Carpet No. (Burgundy)’ (1997)
Claire Barclay, ‘Untitled
(turned pole)’ 1996 and ‘Untitled
(pole with shaved off bristles)’ (1996)
Alek O. ‘Edward
Higgins White III’ (2011)
Christine Borland, ‘Blanket
Used on Police Firing Range, Berlin: Repaired’ (1993)
Tracey Emin, ‘The
Simple Truth’ (1995)
Mark Wallinger, ‘King
Edward and The Colorado Beetle’ (2000)
Kathy Prendergast, ‘Mittens
and Moth Eggs’ (2000) and ‘Hair
Bonnet’ (1997)
Peter Peri, ‘Projection
1’ (2003)
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