Feature: Exhibition - The Shape We're in to be shown at different venues

Published 3 February, 2011
by JOHN EVANS

an unusual transatlantic exhibition initiative 

IT’S a bold move to showcase a Tracey Emin neon work in an empty shop front in Malden Road, Kentish Town. And, as part of The Shape We’re In, there is also the controversial Special Effects by Jack Strange, involving the Slade-trained young artist’s blood “painted” on windows, and there’s more neon from American Dan Attoe.

But, as this series of placements kicks off in London, imagine what New Yorkers will make of showing art in an entire empty floor, 33 storeys up, in a Times Square skyscraper – 1500 Broadway at 43rd Street. 

The initiative comes from the Zabludowicz Collection and will bring together more than 100 sculptures made over the past five years at sites across the “two major art world hub cities”.

One aim of the three-part, transatlantic exhibition is, in part, a political critique and the shows will be bidding to reclaim spaces “left vacant by the recent economic downturn,” with many “…references to media and popular culture”.

In Camden, the shop-based exhibits can be seen from 10am to 10pm daily until March 14. Emin’s I Kiss You is at 46 Malden Road, Kentish Town, and Attoe’s and Strange’s works can be seen at 56-58 Leather Lane, EC1. See www.zabludowiczcollection.com for more details.

The Shape We’re In series focuses on 22 contemporary artists and 10 have been commissioned to make new pieces for the exhibition, reflecting on the unusual nature of the initiative and aimed at encouraging the public to engage with the sculptures.

For example, Ethan Breckenridge and Sean Dack will offer a version of a work first seen in Illinois which is part audio installation and includes the public as active participants. It will feature both in London, where the show is at the home of Zabludowicz, the former Methodist chapel at 176 Prince of Wales Road, will run from March 10 to June 12, and also in New York, from March 1 to April 15.

The London exhibition will feature new works by artists – some offered a month-long residency ahead of the show – including Rachael Champion, Samantha Donnelly, Peggy Franck, George Young and Strange, to be shown alongside works from the collection.

Newly commissioned pieces by Sarah Braman, Matthew Darbyshire and Nick van Woert can be seen at the New York venue.

And that is where organisers put the emphasis, on the new works. They say: “The various context-specific manifestations of The Shape We’re In demonstrate the Zabludowicz Collec­tion’s international vision and its commitment to supporting younger artists through new commissions as well as presenting them in relation to works by more established contemporary artists.”

The Shape We’re In is curated by Elizabeth Neilson and Ellen Mara De Wachter and limited edition artworks and show publication will be available.

• The Shape We’re In is at 46 Malden Road, NW5, and 56-58 Leather Lane, EC1, until March 14; and at 176 Prince of Wales Road, NW5, from March 10-June 12. Free, Full details from the gallery: 020 7428 8940, www.zabludowicz collection.com/london/exhibitions/the-shape-were-in