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Artist and Society
Explore artworks from Tate's collection that respond to their social and political context
Photo © Tate (Madeleine Buddo)
This wing is concerned with the ways in which artists engage with social ideals and historical realities. Though some artists associated modernism with a utopian vision, art has also provided a mirror to contemporary society, sometimes raising awareness about urgent issues or arguing for change. Whether through traditional media or moving images, abstraction or figuration, militancy or detached observation, all the artworks in this wing highlight aspects of the social reality in which they were made, and try to generate a reaction and convey a more or less explicit message to their publics.
12 rooms in Artist and Society
Lucio Fontana, Spatial Concept ‘Waiting’ 1960
In 1959, Fontana began to cut the canvas, with dramatic perfection. These cuts (or tagli) were carefully pre-meditated but executed in an instant. Like the holes in some of his other canvases, they have the effect of drawing the viewer into space. In some, however, the punctures erupt from the surface carrying the force of the gesture towards the viewer in a way that is at once energetic and threatening. Although these actions have often been seen as violent, Fontana claimed ‘I have constructed, not destroyed.’
Gallery label, April 2009
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Betye Saar, Mti 1973
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Tourmaline, Salacia 2019
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Farah Al Qasimi, Woman in Leopard Print 2019
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Vlassis Caniaris, Untitled 1974
Untitled considers the moment of arrival of migrants to unfamiliar lands and the ways in which they are greeted and regarded in the countries they reach. Caniaris often made life-size dolls with wood, wire and plaster. Symbolically, he would dress them in his own and his family’s clothing. This standing faceless figure of a half-body is given presence by the trousers and shoes it wears. Caniaris lived in a number of European artistic centres – Rome, Paris and Berlin. A temporary immigrant himself, he was sensitive to the growing global crisis concerning migrants.
Gallery label, September 2024
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Uzo Egonu, Woman in Grief 1968
T13897
Much of Egonu’s work from this period relates to the Biafran War (1967–70). Woman in Grief was painted in the same year as the two Battles of Onitsha in Nigeria. These were large-scale military conflicts between Biafran and Nigerian forces with high casualties on both sides. The events had particular significance for Egonu who was born in Onitsha. He left Nigeria at the age of thirteen to study in the United Kingdom. Deeply concerned for his family but without the means to return, he followed developments in Nigeria closely.
Gallery label, April 2019
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Abdoulaye Konaté, Intolerance 1998
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Highlights
Lucio Fontana
Spatial Concept ‘Waiting’
1960
Betye Saar
Mti
1973
Tourmaline
Salacia
2019
Farah Al Qasimi
Woman in Leopard Print
2019
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