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2022

We were very sad to hear of the death of Slade alumna Dame Paula Rego at the age of 87. We would like to express our sincere condolences to her family.

Paula Rego was born in Lisbon in 1935 and studied at the Slade between 1952 and 1956.

See The Guardian, 8 June 2022 for an appreciation of her life.

Remembering a Brave New World
Remembering a Brave New World, Chila Kumari Burman, 2020

©Tate

Congratulations to alumna Chila Kumari Singh Burman who has been awarded a MBE in the Queen’s Jubilee birthday honours for services to the arts, and her seminal installation 'remembering a brave new world' which lit up London during the pandemic.

Slade 150 documentary trailer, directed and produced by Kate Stonehill & Justin Hardy, 2021, film
Transcript (Word doc.)

Slade@150 commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Slade School of Fine Art at UCL.

The film has been commissioned by Professor Stella Bruzzi as dean of the arts and humanities, to celebrate the Slade past, present and future. Stella hired two UCL academic-filmmakers, award-winners, Kate Stonehill and Justin Hardy, to co-direct a filmic piece that ranges from 19871 to the present day, from the arrival of women students, the growth of transnationalism in the mid 20th century, and the current crises of brilliance that include graduating during the pandemic.

The film is told as a visual poem, in six distinct verses, to underline that this is a single version of the story, not the definitive alternative. A central theme is that while there are a number of world famous alumni/ae, such as Paula Rego and Antony Gormley, going back in time to Stanley Spencer and Gwen John, the Slade is proud of its entire community that has each contributed to the collective, as teachers, curators, practitioners, inside and outside the world of art.

Film running time 1 hour.

Details:
Bloomsbury Theatre
6 - 7pm
Wednesday 8 June 2022
Tickets are free, book via the Bloomsbury Theatre

Earthing
Earthing, Jocelyn McGregor, 2022

Sculpture in the City Aldgate Square Commission, May 2022 - spring 2023

Alumna Jocelyn McGregor's first public sculpture, 'Earthing', has just been unveiled as part of Sculpture in the City: Aldgate Square Commission, part of Sculpture in the City 11th Edition.

Earthing will be on display until spring 2023 and will join the rest of the 11th edition sculpture trail launching on 21 June 2022. See the Sculpture in the City website for more information.

Maya Simms with BAFTA installation
Maya Simms with BAFTA installation, 2022

Photo credit: BAFTA/Hannah Taylor

Congratulations to 2nd year undergraduate student Maya Simms who designed a bespoke art installation for BAFTA unveiled at an event on 18 May 2022 to thank the donors who supported the redevelopment of BAFTA 195 Piccadilly.

The installation will be permanently displayed in 195 Piccadilly and features the names of those who supported the arts charity’s redevelopment project.

195 Piccadilly will allow BAFTA to dramatically expand its learning and new talent development programme

Barbara Broccoli CBE, Martin Freeman, Joanna Scanlon, Susan Wokoma, Gemma Whelan, Kit Connor, Will Gao, Luke Thompson, Dexter Fletcher and Sandy Powell OBE were among the guests at the event.

Maya Simms, Student at the Slade School of Fine Art said: “I wanted to create a piece of artwork that would reflect the diversity of the people coming into the BAFTA headquarters, framed and divided, as if an Art Deco style stained-glass window, into abstract representations of diverse faces. Thus, reflecting the visitors within the fabric of the BAFTA building, as well as framing them within the whole context of the act of encouraging diversity.

I wanted the donors’ names to be distributed around the artwork, surrounding and radiating from the central design. Their names, etched onto mirrored shards, encompass the design and reflect the viewer, as the donors are instrumental to the redevelopment of 195 Piccadilly.

For a young artist, an opportunity like this is undeniably momentous. The prospect of an enriching experience in the professional creative field, the exposure of my work to such a large audience and the artistic freedom presented in the competition, excited me greatly.”

Related link:

BAFTA unveils bespoke art installation at event to thank donors who supported the redevelopment of BAFTA 195 Piccadilly

Freelands Painting Prize - Okiki Akinfe 2022 winner
Freelands Painting Prize - Okiki Akinfe 2022 winner

Congratulations to final year BA student Okiki Akinfe, one of the winners of the Freelands Painting Prize 2022.

The group of winning artists will participate in an exhibition at Freelands Foundation’s  gallery in London this autumn. For more information see the Freelands Foundation website

REF 2021, slideshow of staff research, 2022

©the artists, Slade School of Fine Art

We are pleased to announce that 94% of our individual research outputs were recognised as ‘world leading’ (55%) and ‘internationally excellent’ (39%) in REF 2021. Overall our research culture was judged to be 88% ‘world leading’ and ‘internationally excellent’.

Our portfolio comprised submissions from 33 staff members and outputs including exhibitions, artefacts, books, articles, performance and public artworks. We presented three impact case studies, which demonstrate the range and impact of our research.

Kieren Reed, Director said:

“We are delighted that our practice-based research and research environment have been recognised as ‘world-leading’ and ‘internationally excellent’ in the field of Fine Art. This marks the Slade’s significance in this field of practice and reflects the hard work and efforts of all our staff, who have worked together to create a vibrant and innovative research community.”

Related links

UCL REF website
UCL Arts and Humanities REF2021 website
Lisa Milroy: Hands On Art Workshops for students in Kakuma Refugee Camp Impact Case Study
Onya McCausland: Transforming the cultural and economic value of mine water treatment site Impact Case Study
Susan Collins video
Slade Research

Michael Armitage has been chosen to design a new £1 coin which will enter circulation next year. The new design for the reverse or “tails” side of the coin will mark its 40th anniversary. See The Independent article, 10 May 2022.

The Life of St. Bede
The Life of St. Bede, Monster Chetwynd, March 2022, installed at Durham Cathedral

photo: David Wood

Monster Chetwynd and Katie Paterson were among the artists invited by a panel of artists and curators, convened by the National Glass Centre, to create a new glass work as part of Glass Exchange, showing at Durham Cathedral and Ingleby Gallery (Katie Paterson) until Sunday, September 11, 2022. For further details see the Sunderland Culture website.

Monster Chetwynd’s commission, The Life of St Bede, is sited in the timeless beauty of Durham Cathedral. Her work features four colourful and imaginative dioramas capturing key scenes from the life of St Bede. Chetwynd’s commission is on display in the Galilee Chapel at Durham Cathedral until Sunday, September 11 2022.

Part of Katie Paterson‘s work on Glass Exchange is also being shown in Durham Cathedral. She is delivering two inter-related projects which tell the story of earthly existence: a series of hand-blown hourglasses containing material from before the Sun existed; and a glass urn filled with a dust that spans billions of years including the evolution of humankind over the last few millennia.

Requiem will be exhibited at Ingleby Gallery in Edinburgh from Saturday, April 9 until Saturday, June 11 before being shown at National Glass Centre from Saturday, June 18, until Sunday, September 11, 2022.

A timepiece, from the series, The Moment, will be displayed at Durham Cathedral and National Glass Centre.

Images: David Wood

Art and The Rural Imagination 
Art and The Rural Imagination , Book cover

by More Than Ponies, edited by Colin Perry

Current PhD candidate Kasia Depta-Garapich has contributed to Art and The Rural Imagination by More Than Ponies, edited by Colin Perry. 

Art and the Rural Imagination features writing by key academics and artists and explores how contemporary art can help to reimagine the rural as a site of contemporary thought and experience. It reflects on a diversity of issues, from post-pandemic landscapes to farming, tourism, sustainability, productivity, as well as issues of gender, sexuality and decolonisation.

Contributors: Adam Chodzko, Katarzyna Depta-Garapich, Catherine Elwes, Laura Eldret, Feral Practice (Fiona MacDonald), Paul Finnegan, Jenny Holt, Anna Sofie Hvid, Victoria Lucas, Deirdre O’Mahony, Harry Meadows, Colin Perry, Rosemary Shirley, Julian Stallabrass, Standart Thinking (Javier Rodriguez), Marina Velez Vago and Zoox .

For further details and to order, see the More Than Ponies website.

Breaking the Mould , Sculpture by Women Since 1945 (logo)
Breaking the Mould , Sculpture by Women Since 1945 (logo)

Works by Phyllida Barlow, Rana Begum, Cathy De Monchaux, Jessie Flood-Paddock, Mona Hatoum, Holly Hendry, Kim Lim, Grace Schwindt and Rachel Whiteread are showing in Breatking the Mould Sculpture by Women Since 1945, an Arts Council Collection touring exhibition. See the Arts Council Collection website

Venues and dates

Longside Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park
​29 May – 5 September 2021

Djanogly Gallery, Lakeside Arts, University of Nottingham
18 September 2021–9 January 2022

The Levinsky Gallery, University of Plymouth and The Box, Plymouth 
26 March - 5 June 2022

Ferens Art Gallery, Hull
2 July–2 October 2022

The New Art Gallery Walsall
October 2022 - March 2023

The Path Home
The Path Home, Celia Paul, 2020, oil on canvas, 56.2 x 63.5 x 3.6 cm 22 1/8 x 25 x 1 3/8 in

© Celia Paul, Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro

Celia Paul: Memory and Desire, is showing at Victoria Miro, 16 Wharf Road, London N1 7RW, from 6 April–7 May 2022. See the Victoria Miro website for details.

Stray, 2022 (film still), Jonas Brinker
Stray (film still), Jonas Brinker, 2022, film

Jonas Brinker

Jonas Brinker and Douglas Gordon are showing in #saymaybe at Die Möglichkeit einer Insel, Inselstraße 7, 10117 Berlin, Germany from 19 March - 24 April 2022. See the Die Möglichkeit einer Insel website.

Image: Jonas Brinker, Stray, 2022