Turner Contemporary is one year old, a birthday that fittingly coincides with the gallery’s first major exhibition devoted to its namesake, JMW Turner.
Turner and the Elements features nearly 90 landscape works in oil and watercolour, and focuses on the artist’s interest in scientific developments and his exploration of the forces of nature. It is organised into five sections: air, earth, fire, water and fusion.
The show also features a section devoted to paintings of the Margate coastline, reinforcing the importance of the area to the artist, who was described by Victorian critic John Ruskin as “the father of modern art”.
Turner Contemporary has no permanent collection but hosts temporary historic and contemporary art exhibitions while maintaining what director Victoria Pomery calls “a Turner presence”.
The gallery’s programming is defined by loaned Turner paintings, historic work to contextualise the radical nature of the artist’s contribution and a broad range of current visual practices.
Showing alongside Turner and the Elements, in an imaginative pairing of old and new, is Hamish Fulton: Walk, an exhibition inspired by the conceptual artist’s engagement with nature and organised in conjunction with the Ikon gallery, Birmingham.
Turner Contemporary develops the type of partnerships that enable regional museums to build a national and international profile. Turner and the Elements is curated by Inés Richter-Musso and Ortrud Westheider, directors of Bucerius Kunst Forum, Hamburg, and the National Museum, Kracow.
Collaborative strengths
It is a collaborative exhibition first shown in Germany and Poland before reaching Margate, an appropriate finale in view of Turner’s special attachment to the place. The show has been customised to respond to its current location by displaying the paintings of Margate separately from the other works.
In the North Gallery the exhibition is divided into distinct areas that relate to the four classical elements with the show culminating in the South Gallery with a series of paintings that combine air, earth, fire and water in a vortex of dynamic and swirling brushworks.
A connecting corridor between the galleries contains introductory information, a biographical timeline and display of the artist’s Margate paintings. The combination of crowds, limited circulation room and subdued lighting made it difficult to study the work in detail.
Rebranding Margate
Lengthy information labels explaining the rationale behind the curatorial arrangement implies that visitors would not understand it without the interpretation.
In debates about experience versus interpretation this was a case where the quantity and complexity of the text distracted from a direct engagement with the paintings.
The impressive range of Turner works on display required minimal labelling to be appreciated and further information was on hand via audioguides, an excellent A6 catalogue and the enthusiastic navigators, who help people make the most of their visit.
On the day of my visit, coachloads of tourists arrived to enjoy free access to the gallery, which was full of families and visitors of all age groups. Busy workshops included learning to create a seascape using oil paints, how to knit with coloured wool inspired by Turner’s paintings and free guided tours.
The craft and art activities, which took place in light-filled learning studios, animated the minimal white spaces of the gallery and provided a sense of drama and spectacle. Turner Contemporary has proved to be a democratic learning space that attracts diverse audiences to its events and has built strong connections to the town.
Before visitors immerse themselves in the art or activities on offer they must first engage with Margate itself and it is this encounter that frames the cultural experience.
Margate has been rebranded “the original seaside” by a strategic communications agency, Underscore, which, in consultation with local community groups, has developed a colourful new visual place identity. The town’s reputation has suffered due to declining tourism, deprivation, high unemployment and above-average crime rates.
An updated logo and strapline are part of a campaign designed to shift visitor perceptions from a view of Margate as faded seaside resort to that of contemporary and creative destination.
Margate Renewal Partnership claims that by 2015 Margate will become a dynamic, thriving and successful town. Although dilapidated in parts, with its unoccupied commercial units and boarded-up historic buildings, Margate’s gradual regeneration is evident in enhanced lighting and signage, and building and improvement works to the public realm.
Empty shops have been reanimated by the Creative Squat project and a growing number of independent traders, cafes and galleries occupy the Old Town’s cultural quarter.
Visitor attraction
At the heart of Margate’s arts community is Turner Contemporary, the hub in an expanding cultural network. This £17.5m industrial-looking building designed by David Chipperfield provides an architectural contrast to the Georgian and Victorian buildings nearby but is not star architecture of the most spectacular kind.
Turner Contemporary is an urban icon and cultural flagship designed to attract inward investment and provide a promotional tool for the town and surrounding area. The gallery has exceeded targets and attracted more than 330,000 visitors, a number likely to increase sharply with the opening of Turner and the Elements.
The Margate gallery is one of two anchor developments in the town’s ten-year cultural regeneration plan, the other being the derelict amusement park and art deco cinema Dreamland.
The latter has yet to be restored but plans are underway to reimagine the site as a theme park and heritage visitor attraction. The two venues are by no means incompatible but could become mixed-use cultural centres with programmed events and festivals designed to educate, stimulate and entertain locals and tourists.
These sites fuse past and present into a singular experience that will offer visitors to Margate opportunities for reflection and escapism.
Nicky Ryan is the programme director at the School of Design, London College of Communication
Turner and the Elements features nearly 90 landscape works in oil and watercolour, and focuses on the artist’s interest in scientific developments and his exploration of the forces of nature. It is organised into five sections: air, earth, fire, water and fusion.
The show also features a section devoted to paintings of the Margate coastline, reinforcing the importance of the area to the artist, who was described by Victorian critic John Ruskin as “the father of modern art”.
Turner Contemporary has no permanent collection but hosts temporary historic and contemporary art exhibitions while maintaining what director Victoria Pomery calls “a Turner presence”.
The gallery’s programming is defined by loaned Turner paintings, historic work to contextualise the radical nature of the artist’s contribution and a broad range of current visual practices.
Showing alongside Turner and the Elements, in an imaginative pairing of old and new, is Hamish Fulton: Walk, an exhibition inspired by the conceptual artist’s engagement with nature and organised in conjunction with the Ikon gallery, Birmingham.
Turner Contemporary develops the type of partnerships that enable regional museums to build a national and international profile. Turner and the Elements is curated by Inés Richter-Musso and Ortrud Westheider, directors of Bucerius Kunst Forum, Hamburg, and the National Museum, Kracow.
Collaborative strengths
It is a collaborative exhibition first shown in Germany and Poland before reaching Margate, an appropriate finale in view of Turner’s special attachment to the place. The show has been customised to respond to its current location by displaying the paintings of Margate separately from the other works.
In the North Gallery the exhibition is divided into distinct areas that relate to the four classical elements with the show culminating in the South Gallery with a series of paintings that combine air, earth, fire and water in a vortex of dynamic and swirling brushworks.
A connecting corridor between the galleries contains introductory information, a biographical timeline and display of the artist’s Margate paintings. The combination of crowds, limited circulation room and subdued lighting made it difficult to study the work in detail.
Rebranding Margate
Lengthy information labels explaining the rationale behind the curatorial arrangement implies that visitors would not understand it without the interpretation.
In debates about experience versus interpretation this was a case where the quantity and complexity of the text distracted from a direct engagement with the paintings.
The impressive range of Turner works on display required minimal labelling to be appreciated and further information was on hand via audioguides, an excellent A6 catalogue and the enthusiastic navigators, who help people make the most of their visit.
On the day of my visit, coachloads of tourists arrived to enjoy free access to the gallery, which was full of families and visitors of all age groups. Busy workshops included learning to create a seascape using oil paints, how to knit with coloured wool inspired by Turner’s paintings and free guided tours.
The craft and art activities, which took place in light-filled learning studios, animated the minimal white spaces of the gallery and provided a sense of drama and spectacle. Turner Contemporary has proved to be a democratic learning space that attracts diverse audiences to its events and has built strong connections to the town.
Before visitors immerse themselves in the art or activities on offer they must first engage with Margate itself and it is this encounter that frames the cultural experience.
Margate has been rebranded “the original seaside” by a strategic communications agency, Underscore, which, in consultation with local community groups, has developed a colourful new visual place identity. The town’s reputation has suffered due to declining tourism, deprivation, high unemployment and above-average crime rates.
An updated logo and strapline are part of a campaign designed to shift visitor perceptions from a view of Margate as faded seaside resort to that of contemporary and creative destination.
Margate Renewal Partnership claims that by 2015 Margate will become a dynamic, thriving and successful town. Although dilapidated in parts, with its unoccupied commercial units and boarded-up historic buildings, Margate’s gradual regeneration is evident in enhanced lighting and signage, and building and improvement works to the public realm.
Empty shops have been reanimated by the Creative Squat project and a growing number of independent traders, cafes and galleries occupy the Old Town’s cultural quarter.
Visitor attraction
At the heart of Margate’s arts community is Turner Contemporary, the hub in an expanding cultural network. This £17.5m industrial-looking building designed by David Chipperfield provides an architectural contrast to the Georgian and Victorian buildings nearby but is not star architecture of the most spectacular kind.
Turner Contemporary is an urban icon and cultural flagship designed to attract inward investment and provide a promotional tool for the town and surrounding area. The gallery has exceeded targets and attracted more than 330,000 visitors, a number likely to increase sharply with the opening of Turner and the Elements.
The Margate gallery is one of two anchor developments in the town’s ten-year cultural regeneration plan, the other being the derelict amusement park and art deco cinema Dreamland.
The latter has yet to be restored but plans are underway to reimagine the site as a theme park and heritage visitor attraction. The two venues are by no means incompatible but could become mixed-use cultural centres with programmed events and festivals designed to educate, stimulate and entertain locals and tourists.
These sites fuse past and present into a singular experience that will offer visitors to Margate opportunities for reflection and escapism.
Nicky Ryan is the programme director at the School of Design, London College of Communication
Project data
- Cost undisclosed
- Main funders Kent County Council; Arts Council England
- Sponsors London Array; Shepherd Neame
- Curators Inés Richter-Musso; Ortrud Westheider
- Exhibition ends 13 May
