Tate Liverpool
17 March 2001 – 24 February 2002
The most immediate and intimate of subjects for works of art have often been the people who are emotionally closest to the artist. Drawn from the Tate Collection, this display examines the relationships between artists and their models, families, friends and lovers through their representation in painting, sculpture and photography. It includes key works by Pierre Bonnard, André Derain, David Hockney, Leon Kossoff, Edvard Munch, Pablo Picasso and Thomas Struth.
Who are the most important people in our lives? What emotional networks are we embedded in? Who relies on us, and whom in turn do we rely on for love, friendship, support and understanding? Who do we talk intimately with, and about? Why are we so interested in the way other people’s relationships with friends, family and partners work? What happens when these relationships break down? These are some of the questions this display raises and attempts to answer through the work of these artists.
This display covers a range of works and subjects from David Hockney’s intimate family portrait My Parents to images of lovers and companions, as in Pablo Picasso’s Dora Maar Seated. The artists in this exhibition examine what lies at the heart of relationships between lovers, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, children and friends, picturing how we co-exist with one another and as part of a social group. The range of emotions evoked in these artists’ works charts the richness of human sociability along with all of the possibilities and problems we face in being with one another.
Emotional Ties is on display at Tate Liverpool from 17 March 2001 until 24 February 2002. Admission is free. The gallery is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00am to 5:50pm, closed Mondays (except Bank Holiday Mondays). For recorded information, please telephone 0151 702 7402, or visit our website at www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/.