For the first time since Tate Modern opened in 2000, all 48 of its galleries devoted to the display of the permanent Collection will be rehung around an entirely new concept. Opening on Tuesday 23 May 2006, the rehang has been made possible thanks to a significant three-year partnership between Tate Modern and UBS.
The rehang, UBS Openings: Tate Modern Collection, will feature four wings (on Levels 3 and 5) each of which will revolve around a central display that focuses on a key period of innovation in twentieth century art history. The four periods are associated with Cubism, Futurism and Vorticism; Surrealism and Surrealist tendencies; Abstract Expressionism and European Informal Art; and Minimalism. Around these focal points a range of displays will move backwards and forwards in time, exploring how these movements both reflect earlier artistic practice and shape and inform subsequent developments and contemporary art. There will continue to be direct dialogues between contemporary art and the past with an introductory room for each suite bringing together a striking pairing of landmark works by two artists from different generations. The rehang will also include a special display drawn from The UBS Art Collection, which will augment areas of art practice, such as photography, which are not currently well represented in the Tate Collection.
Over 40% of the works in the new displays will never have been shown at Tate Modern before including icons such as Whaam! by Roy Lichtenstein and around thirty recently acquired works including important pieces by Francis Picabia and Anish Kapoor. Some 20% of works on display will be newly acquired and major works by Tacita Dean, the Guerrilla Girls, Christian Marclay, John Baldessari and Cildo Meireles will be on display for the first time.
In addition, UBS’s support will enable Tate Modern to programme additional events and displays which will take their inspiration from the Collection and aim to draw in new audiences. The first of these events, to celebrate the rehang, is The Long Weekend, a four day festival which will take place at Tate Modern on Friday 26 May to Monday 29 May 2006. The programme will also include major live events in May 2007 and 2008; bi-monthly live performance art events (building upon the success of earlier performances by Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang, DV8 and Merce Cunningham); focused displays and education and interpretation initiatives such as a dedicated family space, a timeline on the public concourses and touch screen computers linked to Tate’s online art database.
Nicholas Serota, Tate, Director, said:
UBS have been important supporters of Tate Modern since 2000 and we are delighted about this exciting and unique partnership. This level of support and commitment, over a three-year period, will enable us to generate public interest in the Collection in a way we have not been able to before.
The collaboration with UBS enables Tate Modern to focus on its Collection in new and different ways and reach out to new audiences through additional programming and interpretation initiatives.
Jeremy Palmer, Member of the Group Managing Board, UBS, said:
UBS has a long-standing relationship with Tate Modern and this three year partnership reflects a significant deepening and broadening of our support.
We are delighted that works from The UBS Art Collection will be included in the display to augment areas of artistic practice which are not currently well represented in the Tate Collection.
We are very excited by this huge step forward in our collaboration with Tate Modern and the many opportunities we hope it will provide for broadening access to the vibrant and inspiring world of modern art.