A new generation of irreverent English producers conquer exhibition space for videoart New wave from England Michael Maziere, director of London Electronic Arts, London, England, has prepared for Videobrasil an exhibition of videographic creations made by a new generation of English producers. Contrary to what was going on at the end of the 80’s and beginnings of the 90’s, when the yearning to participate in television caused a lot of frustration for many artists, today we find a cultural renaissance comparable to what went on in the 60’s with the Britpack movement headed by Damien Hirst. This is a new generation of young irreverent and provocative artists that many times opt for low-tech portraits and fragments of daily life, usually excluded from traditional aesthetic considerations of videoart. The films are made both from video and film, and contrary to the preceding generation, show little respect or esteem for television, and consequently causing an impact and conquering exhibition space in the art galleries. Three big film and video exhibitions bear witness to this change: London Electronic Arts Pandaemonium Festival , London, the Hayward Gallery with Spellbound and the Museum of Modern Art with Oxford Scream - Film in Art.
artists
Works
- Portrait of ArshileAtom Egoyan , 1996
- Hermaphrodite BikiniClio Barnard, 1995
- Country HouseDamien Hirst, 1996
- Expanded PicturesGillian Wearing, Mark Wallinger, Sam-Taylor Wood, 1995
- TrailerJane Wilson, Louise Wilson, 1995
- Sunset StripKayla Parker, 1996
- Go West Young ManKeith Piper, 1996
- The Horse ImpressionistLucy Gunning, 1994
- A Smashin' Night OutMatthew Clamorre, 1994
- Remember MeMichael Mazière, 1996
- The Rumour of True ThingsPaul Bush, 1996
- HellocentrumWright/White, 1995
Curator's text Michael Mazière, 1996
See You Later: UK Artists and TV
In recent years, an increasing number of young British artists have turned to the film and video medium. Born into the 60's and raised on television, many recall the proliferation of domestic VCRS, camcorders, video rental stores and MTV.' Gregor Muir - 'Shot in Britain'. Pandaemonium Catalogue, 1996 In the late eighties and early 90's many 'traditional' video artists craved to be commissioned by television or to have their work bought by broadcasters. The Arts Council of England developed many schemes in order to expose artists film and video to the large audiences and companies such as 'llluminations' specialised in the production of such works. Television was seen as a panacea for the underfunding and underexposure of artists' film and video. lt did not work, or more specifically it only had partial success - firstly because of the hegemonous weight of the television context and secondly because the television production mechanisms brought with them limitations which go against the very nature of the artistic process. Important works where made through such collaborations (David Larcher, Daniel Reeves, John Maybury, Cordelia Swann, Keith Piper and others) but their impact was more visible outside of television culture. Today in Britain, we are in the middie of a thriving cultural revival unseen since the 60's, with particular focus on the London 'Britpack' artscene led by the likes of Damien Hirst. What we are currently witnessing is a resurgence in the use of video by a new generation of young artists, a use which is often precisely irreverent but also personal and deliberately provocative. In many of these works video delivers images in a low tech fashion, sketches and fragments of life, which are usually excluded from the aesthetic, formal and linguistic considerations of traditional video art. Most of these younger artists have come to video from outside the recognised field of experimental film and video, much like the first artists to approach the medium in the late sixties and early seventies. lt is these works, engaged with both the mediums of film and video which are having an impact in the UK today and they have little regards for television. In a way one could say that artists working with film and video have returned to the gallery at the expense of television. Three major exhibitions of artists filrn and video in 1996 bear testament to this shift: London Electronic Arts' Pandaemonium Festival at the ICA, London, the Hayward Galleries Spellbound' and the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford Scream - Film in Art. The voracity of television and it's ability to absorb culture of all kinds will probably means that this 'new wave' have already started to make works for television and a large of the programme I am presenting here is culied from these new artists. Although the new energy is to be found in the gallery some of it is bleeding into TV. The relationship between artists and television ín Britain today is fragmented, unstable and often unpredictable - a situation which can produce works which surprise, question and estimulate - as long as it refuses institutionalisation.