Richard Wilson RA: Film in the Summer Exhibition
12 June 2009
In the Reynolds Room, a John Madejski Fine Room
Richard Wilson RA, curator of the new film and video room in this year's Summer Exhibition Photo © Harry Borden
Sculptor Richard Wilson RA discusses his curatorship of the Summer Exhibition’s first-ever gallery dedicated to film and video. Joining him are filmmakers Sean Dower and William Raban, who are exhibiting in the gallery.
Of his curatorship of the Summer Exhibition, Wilson has said in the current issue of RA Magazine, 'I've built a special structure as a screen for the films and videos at this year's Summer Exhibition. Rather than just accept the room as it is, I've tried to seize the onlooker's attention with an unusual, unconventionally structured set-up – a section of wall apparently ripped from another interior space – to give the films a space to exist in. The reason I proposed this film and video room is that these media are current practices, and I think to include them gives the RA a greater diversity of art forms to view.'
Richard Wilson, born 1953, is one of Britain’s most renowned sculptors. He is internationally celebrated for his interventions in architectural space, which draw heavily for their inspiration from the worlds of engineering and construction. Wilson has represented Britain in the Sydney, Sao Paulo and Venice Biennials and Yokohama Triennal. He has been nominated for the Turner Prize on two occasions and was awarded the prestigious DAAD residency in Berlin 1992/3. Wilson's seminal installation 20:50 (1987), a sea of reflective sump oil, which is permanently installed in the Saatchi Collection, was described as 'one of the masterpieces of the modern age' by the art critic Andrew Graham Dixon.
Sean Dower, born 1965, is engaged in a range of practices, using sculpture, photography, film and sound. His works in various media often retain a performative element. His work has been shown in many galleries, including exhibitions at MOMA, Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Anthony d'Offay Gallery and Krinzinger Gallery, Vienna.
William Raban, born 1948, ran the London Filmmakers' Co-op workshop and wrote and published Filmmakers Europe, an international listings and review magazine which reflected the artform's internationalism. His work has included expanded cinema, installations and work for television, much of it with a strong social/political undercurrent. He has taught at North East London Polytechnic, St Martins School of Art and currently at London College of Communication.
Please note change of location: this event will take place in the Reynolds Room of the Royal Academy; not the Geological Society as previously advertised.
6.30–7.30pm; £14/£6 reductions (includes exhibition entry, lecture and a drink), £10 (includes lecture and a drink)
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