‘CONTEMPORARY EYE: MATERIAL MATTERS’
A new series curated by Artwise Curators in partnership with Pallant House Gallery and private collectors.

Artwise Curators are pleased to announce the first exhibition in a series of 3 unique collaborations with the award-winning Pallant House Gallery, and private contemporary collectors under the title ‘Contemporary Eye.’ All three seasons will look at contemporary art through the eyes of the private collector from a difference angle to provide a fascinating insight into the world of today’s collector.

The inaugural show, ‘Contemporary Eye: Material Matters’, will feature works by Angela Bulloch, Angus Fairhurst, Andy Goldsworthy, Langlands & Bell, Sarah Lucas, Oswaldo Maciá. Katie Paterson, Charles Sandison, and James Turrell.  A new installation in the Gallery’s historic stairwell features a startling work by the artist collective WOKmedia, in which large-scale porcelain eggs are suspended from the ceiling and shattered onto the floor.

‘Contemporary Eye: Material Matters’ examines some of the challenges faced by private collectors when taking on the responsibility of owning contemporary art, including: the difficulties of accommodating light, sound or video installations in a domestic space, and the issues involved in conserving artworks produced from experimental or consumable materials. The exhibition provokes questions as to how collectors live with such artworks and what, in certain cases, should be done to preserve them for posterity?
 
The works shown have been carefully positioned to create a dialogue with Pallant House Gallery’s permanent collection, which itself is based on private collections donated to the Gallery over the past 30 years. The Contemporary Eye series therefore aims to continue this discourse.
 
The Director of Pallant House Gallery and the Curators would like to thank the following collectors for their generous loans and support: Vanessa Branson Collection, Daros Collection, Collection Chris Drake, Haines Collection, Pearl Lam Collection, Collection Lockhart, and Zabludowicz Collection.

Contemporary Eye: Material Matters
2nd May – 26th July 2009
Pallant House Gallery
9 North Pallant
Chichester
West Sussex
PO19 1TJ
www.pallant.org.uk

*Certain exhibits will be on view beyond July.  Please contact the Gallery for details.