On the last Thursday of every month Tate Liverpool opens late for special events, music, food, drink and the best modern and contemporary art. This month’s Late at Tate, Thursday 27 March (18.00 – 21.00), is themed around Tate Liverpool’s current collection display DLA Piper Series: The Twentieth Century - How it looked & how it felt. Hear one of the artists from the Tate Liverpool collection display in conversation, be surprised by musicians in the galleries responding to abstract art and be distracted by a special one-off group performance relating to Rodin’s The Kiss. Stay to hear The Neil Campbell Collective perform a set inspired by the collection display complete with electric cello, processed classical guitar and wordless vocals.
Michael Craig-Martin is a conceptual artist particularly noted for his influence on the generation of YBA artists who emerged in the 1990s – many of whom he taught at Goldsmiths University. For this Late at Tate, Craig-Martin discusses his career to date with Achim Borchardt-Hume, Curator at Tate Modern, focussing on his work currently on display at Tate Liverpool -4 Identical Boxes with Lids Reversed, while commenting on work by other artists in the display including that of Damien Hirst (18.00 – 19.30, £7, £5.50 concessions, £4 members). To book your ticket call Tate Liverpool on 0151 702 7400.
Elsewhere in the building, visual artist Claire Blundell Jones choreographs Kissing throughout the building at TL. Kissing is a group performance piece that investigates whether a social sculpture of kissing looks as aesthetically beautiful as the same act portrayed in an artwork such as Rodin’s The Kiss or whether it is just as repulsive as some people perceive kissing in public to be. Exploring the boundaries of personal space, alienation, restraint and the issues of public affection, couples and singles will be coming together from all over the country to unite in a Kissing performance that will transform Tate Liverpool’s gallery and non-gallery spaces for those who encounter it.
Members of CoMA North West will present Abstraction/Composition, music inspired by and related to works in Tate Liverpool’s current collection display – DLA Piper Series:The Twentieth Century - How it looked & how it felt. Composed by members of CoMA North West, the music will be performed by Richard Harding on guitar and Phil Hargreaves on soprano saxophone. Pieces include Concentric by L C Dunbar (based on Richard Long’s Small White Pebble Circles), Spatial Concept by Phil Hargreaves (based on Lucio Fontana’s Spatial Concept) and Number 23 by Phil Hargreaves (based on Number 23 by Jackson Pollock). CoMA was set up in 1993 to encourage and provide opportunities for amateur musicians of all abilities to take part in contemporary music making. As part of this commitment, CoMA commissions works from leading UK and international composers, works which are artistically challenging yet suited to the technical abilities of amateur ensembles.
Mellowtone DJs will warm up the audience with an array of tunes reflecting abstraction in the Tate Collection and will be followed by The Neil Campbell Collective who complete the night with a set inspired by the collection display featuring an electric cello, processed classical guitar and wordless vocals.