Serpentine Gallery
Encyclopedia
The Serpentine Gallery is an art gallery
in Kensington Gardens
, Hyde Park
, central London
. It focuses on modern
and contemporary art
. The exhibitions, architecture, education and public programmes attract approximately 750,000 visitors a year. Admission is free.
Established in 1970 and housed in a classical 1934 tea pavilion, it takes its name from the nearby Serpentine Lake.
Notable artists who have been exhibited there include Man Ray
, Henry Moore
, Jean-Michel Basquiat
, Andy Warhol
, Paula Rego
, Bridget Riley
, Allan McCollum
, Anish Kapoor
, Christian Boltanski
, Philippe Parreno
, Richard Prince
, Gerhard Richter
, Gustav Metzger
, Damien Hirst
, and Jeff Koons
.
On the ground at the gallery's entrance is a permanent work by Ian Hamilton Finlay
in collaboration with Peter Coates, dedicated to Diana, Princess of Wales
, the Serpentine's former patron.
In 2006, Serpentine Gallery premiered a major exhibition of contemporary Chinese Art
. Titled China Power Station: Part One, the exhibition was housed in Battersea Power Station
in South London, offering a rare glimpse for the public of the interior of a well known landmark.
The gallery was set up by the Arts Council of Great Britain
and for its first years was only open on a limited basis during the summer months. In 1991, Julia Peyton Jones
OBE was appointed as Director and under her the gallery was extensively refurbished. In 2006, the curator Hans Ulrich Obrist
was appointed as Co-Director Exhibitions and Programmes, and Director International Projects.
Since 2000, each summer the gallery has commissioned a temporary pavilion by leading architects including:
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
in Kensington Gardens
Kensington Gardens
Kensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, is one of the Royal Parks of London, lying immediately to the west of Hyde Park. It is shared between the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The park covers an area of 111 hectares .The open spaces...
, Hyde Park
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
, central London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. It focuses on modern
Modern art
Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
and contemporary art
Contemporary art
Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
. The exhibitions, architecture, education and public programmes attract approximately 750,000 visitors a year. Admission is free.
Established in 1970 and housed in a classical 1934 tea pavilion, it takes its name from the nearby Serpentine Lake.
Notable artists who have been exhibited there include Man Ray
Man Ray
Man Ray , born Emmanuel Radnitzky, was an American artist who spent most of his career in Paris, France. Perhaps best described simply as a modernist, he was a significant contributor to both the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal...
, Henry Moore
Henry Moore
Henry Spencer Moore OM CH FBA was an English sculptor and artist. He was best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art....
, Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist. His career in art began as a graffiti artist in New York City in the late 1970s, and in the 1980s produced Neo-expressionist painting.-Early life:...
, Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
, Paula Rego
Paula Rego
Paula Rego is a painter born in Portugal although she is a naturalised British citizen.-Biography:Rego was born in the Portuguese capital Lisbon, the daughter of an electrical engineer who worked for the Marconi Company. Although this gave her a comfortable middle class home, the family was...
, Bridget Riley
Bridget Riley
Bridget Louise Riley CH CBE is an English painter who is one of the foremost proponents of Op art.-Early life:...
, Allan McCollum
Allan McCollum
Allan McCollum is a contemporary American artist who was born in Los Angeles, California in 1944, and now lives and works in New York City. He has spent over forty years exploring how objects achieve public and personal meaning in a world constituted in mass production, focusing most recently on...
, Anish Kapoor
Anish Kapoor
Anish Kapoor CBE RA is a British sculptor of Indian birth. Born in Mumbai , Kapoor has lived and worked in London since the early 1970s when he moved to study art, first at the Hornsey College of Art and later at the Chelsea School of Art and Design.He represented Britain in the XLIV Venice...
, Christian Boltanski
Christian Boltanski
Christian Boltanski is French sculptor, photographer, painter and film maker.-Life and work:Having no formal art education, he began painting in 1958. Nevertheless, he first came to public attention in 1960 with few short films and publication of several notebooks...
, Philippe Parreno
Philippe Parreno
Philippe Parreno is an Algerian artist and filmmaker, born in Oran, and currently living in Paris, France. Parreno's work primarily revolves around the interrogation of the nature of an image, as well as the modes of its exhibition.-Life and work:...
, Richard Prince
Richard Prince
Richard Prince is an American painter and photographer. Prince began appropriating photographs in 1975...
, Gerhard Richter
Gerhard Richter
Gerhard Richter is a German visual artist. Richter has simultaneously produced abstract and photorealistic painted works, as well as photographs and glass pieces, thus undermining the concept of the artist’s obligation to maintain a single cohesive style.- Biography :Gerhard Richter was born in...
, Gustav Metzger
Gustav Metzger
Gustav Metzger is an artist and political activist who developed the concept of Auto-Destructive Art and the Art Strike. Together with John Sharkey, he initiated the Destruction in Art Symposium in 1966...
, Damien Hirst
Damien Hirst
Damien Steven Hirst is an English artist, entrepreneur and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists , who dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s. He is internationally renowned, and is reportedly Britain's richest living artist,...
, and Jeff Koons
Jeff Koons
Jeffrey "Jeff" Koons is an American artist known for his reproductions of banal objects—such as balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror finish surfaces....
.
On the ground at the gallery's entrance is a permanent work by Ian Hamilton Finlay
Ian Hamilton Finlay
Ian Hamilton Finlay, CBE, was a Scottish poet, writer, artist and gardener.-Biography:Finlay was born in Nassau, Bahamas of Scottish parents. He was educated in Scotland at Dollar Academy. At the age of 13, with the outbreak of World War II, he was evacuated to family in the countryside...
in collaboration with Peter Coates, dedicated to Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
, the Serpentine's former patron.
In 2006, Serpentine Gallery premiered a major exhibition of contemporary Chinese Art
Chinese art
Chinese art is visual art that, whether ancient or modern, originated in or is practiced in China or by Chinese artists or performers. Early so-called "stone age art" dates back to 10,000 BC, mostly consisting of simple pottery and sculptures. This early period was followed by a series of art...
. Titled China Power Station: Part One, the exhibition was housed in Battersea Power Station
Battersea Power Station
Battersea Power Station is a decommissioned coal-fired power station located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Battersea, South London. The station comprises two individual power stations, built in two stages in the form of a single building. Battersea A Power Station was built first in the...
in South London, offering a rare glimpse for the public of the interior of a well known landmark.
The gallery was set up by the Arts Council of Great Britain
Arts Council of Great Britain
The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. The Arts Council of Great Britain was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England , the Scottish Arts Council, and the Arts Council of Wales...
and for its first years was only open on a limited basis during the summer months. In 1991, Julia Peyton Jones
Julia Peyton Jones
Julia Peyton-Jones OBE is co-director of the Serpentine Gallery, London together with Hans-Ulrich Obrist. Peyton-Jones studied painting at the Royal College of Art between 1975–78, but did not continue a career as a professional artist. Two of her works still hang in the Bank of England. She was...
OBE was appointed as Director and under her the gallery was extensively refurbished. In 2006, the curator Hans Ulrich Obrist
Hans Ulrich Obrist
Hans Ulrich Obrist is a contemporary art curator, critic and historian of art. He is currently Co-director of Exhibitions and Programmes and Director of International Projects at the Serpentine Gallery, London...
was appointed as Co-Director Exhibitions and Programmes, and Director International Projects.
Pavilions
The Serpentine Gallery annually commissions international architects of worldwide acclaim to design a pavilion on the gallery’s lawn that provides a unique showcase for contemporary architectural practice. The pavilion is host to a special programme of film screenings, talks, the BBC proms and café.Since 2000, each summer the gallery has commissioned a temporary pavilion by leading architects including:
- 2000: Zaha HadidZaha HadidZaha Hadid, CBE is an Iraqi-British architect.-Life and career:Hadid was born in 1950 in Baghdad, Iraq. She received a degree in mathematics from the American University of Beirut before moving to study at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London.After graduating she worked...
- 2001: Daniel LibeskindDaniel LibeskindDaniel Libeskind, is an American architect, artist, and set designer of Polish-Jewish descent. Libeskind founded Studio Daniel Libeskind in 1989 with his wife, Nina, and is its principal design architect...
- 2002: Toyo ItoToyo Itois a Japanese architect known for creating conceptual architecture, in which he seeks to simultaneously express the physical and virtual worlds. He is a leading exponent of architecture that addresses the contemporary notion of a "simulated" city, and has been called "one of the world's most...
- 2003: Oscar NiemeyerOscar NiemeyerOscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho is a Brazilian architect specializing in international modern architecture...
- 2005: Álvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de MouraEduardo Souto de Moura-Life and career:Souto de Moura was born in Porto, and studied sculpture before switching to architecture at the School of Fine Arts of the University of Porto, the current FAUP - Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade do Porto, and receiving his degree in 1980. From 1974 to 1979 he worked with...
- 2006: Rem KoolhaasRem KoolhaasRemment Lucas Koolhaas is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and "Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design" at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, USA. Koolhaas studied at the Netherlands Film and Television Academy in Amsterdam, at the Architectural...
with Cecil BalmondCecil BalmondCecil Balmond is a Sri Lankan/British designer, engineer, artist, architect, and writer. He has been hailed as "one of the most important forces in contemporary architecture today," and in 2003 received the prestigious RIBA Charles Jencks award for Theory in Practice. He is also the recipient of...
and ArupArupArup is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom which provides engineering, design, planning, project management and consulting services for all aspects of the built environment. The firm is present in Africa, the Americas, Australasia, East Asia, Europe and the... - 2007 pre-pavilion 'Lilias': Zaha HadidZaha HadidZaha Hadid, CBE is an Iraqi-British architect.-Life and career:Hadid was born in 1950 in Baghdad, Iraq. She received a degree in mathematics from the American University of Beirut before moving to study at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London.After graduating she worked...
and Patrik Schumacher - 2007: Olafur EliassonOlafur EliassonOlafur Eliasson is a Danish-Icelandic artist known for sculptures and large-scale installation art employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer’s experience. In 1995 he established Studio Olafur Eliasson in Berlin, a laboratory for spatial research...
, Cecil Balmond, and Kjetil ThorsenKjetil Trædal ThorsenKjetil Trædal Thorsen is a Norwegian architect. In 1987, he co-founded the Snøhetta i.s. company, and has been active in many aspects of the company’s projects.-History:... - 2008: Frank GehryFrank GehryFrank Owen Gehry, is a Canadian American Pritzker Prize-winning architect based in Los Angeles, California.His buildings, including his private residence, have become tourist attractions...
- 2009: SANAA
- 2010: Jean NouvelJean NouvelJean Nouvel is a French architect. Nouvel studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was a founding member of Mars 1976 and Syndicat de l'Architecture...
- 2011: Peter ZumthorPeter ZumthorPeter Zumthor is a Swiss architect and winner of the 2009 Pritzker Prize.-Early life:Zumthor was born in Basel, the son of a cabinet-maker...
External links
- Official website of the Serpentine Gallery
- Direct link to the official page showing pictures of all the Serpentine Pavilions
- Serpentine Gallery Artabase page
- The Guardian - collection of articles about the Serpentine Pavilions