Great Art for Great Places

Consultancy supports the charitable mission of Contemporary Art Society, driving its profits into the purchase of great works of art for museums across the UK. By commissioning Consultancy, our clients are investing in a world-class arts ecosystem that is open and accessible to everyone. Check out Consultancy's latest news and events:

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Double your CHOOSE ART donation

For one week, from today until Wednesday 7th April, one of our inspiring donors will double every pound you give to the CHOOSE ART campaign. So, if you give £60 our generous donor will match this, and the Contemporary Read more

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Responding to a changing world

At CAS Consultancy, our work in the public realm has placed social value at the forefront of everything we do – developing opportunities for artists to contribute not only to developing great art but equally importantly to building communities. Read more

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Rose English at Richard Saltoun Gallery

‘Form, Feminisms, Femininities’ at Richard Saltoun Gallery traces the early years of Rose English’s practice through ceramics, performance documentation and collages. Read more
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Artist Xavier Solé Mora, new digital work inspired by Francisco Goya

For the past four years, Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (Aspen) and the Contemporary Art Society Consultancy have been working together to uncover the most exciting young talent in the field of digital art. Read more
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CAS Consultancy working with Gillian Wearing to deliver a monument to women’s suffrage in Parliament Square

The statue of the Suffragist leader Dame Millicent Fawcett (1847-1929) will be the first woman in the historic square Read more
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The Art World View – ABCs of Cultural Placemaking:

Cultural placemaking has moved beyond a ‘nice to have’ and into pole position for ensuring economically viable, healthy, sustainable communities. Read more
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2016 Turner Prize Shortlist

Congratulations to Anthea Hamilton, Michael Dean, Helen Marten and Josephine Pryde who have been named on the Turner Prize shortlist for 2016. Read more
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Tomma Abts at greengrassi

Currently open at greengrassi in Kennington, London, Tomma Abts’ first show in five years with her London gallery is a must-see. Read more
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May 2016

In Birmingham John Stezaker curates an exhibition of his own based around Sir Anthony van Dyck’s last self-portrait, whilst Tate Liverpool opens three unmissable shows at once on 18 May. Read more
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Karl Holmqvist, READ DEAR, and Franciszka & Stefan Themerson, Books, Camera, Ubu at Camden Arts Centre

A brilliantly complementary pair of exhibitions featuring artists with a shared love of language. Read more
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Lisa Oppenheim

Oppenheim delves into the history of photography and redefines its laws of materiality using new technologies. Read more
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Two sculptural works by Hayley Tompkins acquired for Touchstones Rochdale

The acquisition of 'Untitled' (2015) and 'Chair' (2013) supports the museum’s ongoing programme of using contemporary art to newly contextualise and reinvigorate elements of their social history collection Read more
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Yelena Popova wins NWCD Health Centre commission

Popova's practice encompasses painting, video and installation, and all her work is tied together by an interest in exploring the concept of balance, whether in politics, representation, or in our relationship with machines. Read more
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April 2016

If you missed Prem Sahib's acclaimed exhibition at the ICA last year the Grand Union gallery in Birmingham is opening a solo show by the artist this month. Birmingham also sees one of the great American minimalists of the Twentieth century come to Ikon Gallery - Dan Flavin. Read more
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Miriam Austin

Austin creates stunning sculptural objects that possess an enchanting and impending presence, whilst also retaining a peaceful quality in their idle state. Read more
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Aspen Art Collection opens up

CAS Consultancy hosted the annual Place to Be and Aspen Art Day, which engages school children with the art collection held at their Fenchurch Street offices. Read more
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Mark Wallinger, ID, at Hauser & Wirth, London

Wallinger’s genius is to take the seemingly banal and use it to jerk us out of the everyday towards a more acute understanding of where we stand, in the great scheme of things. That he does this with such humour and lightness of touch is what makes the work so enormously rewarding Read more
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Steven Claydon, The Gilded Bough, at Sadie Coles HQ, London

Steven Claydon’s new show at Sadie Coles, his second with the gallery, is the product of two years’ work. In the period since his last show here in 2012 he has shown in Los Angeles, Munich, Milan, Geneva and Bergen. Read more
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Hito Steyerl, Duty-Free Art, at Museo Nacional, Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid

Hito Steyerl’s current exhibition in Madrid offers the most comprehensive view to date of the work of an artist with arguably the sharpest analysis of our particular moment in history. Read more
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March 2016

Sculptures from Sarah Lucas' extraordinary show at the 56th Venice Biennale will be brought to the Soane Museum this month, the custard yellow of the drawing room having inspired the artist's scheme at the British Pavilion. Read more
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Retracing our steps: Creating a database of works

The Contemporary Art Society has been undertaking a major research project in which it has been digitising its rich history of acquisitions, bequests and gifts. Read more
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Gareth Nyandoro

Nyandoro has developed a unique technique called 'Kucheka cheka' to create his large works that spill out of their two-dimensional frame and into installations on the floor around them. Read more
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First permanent artwork for the North West Cambridge Development installed

Ruth Proctor’s We Are All Under the Same Sky, installed at North West Cambridge Primary School, references no matter where on earth we are we have one thing in common. Read more
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CAS Annual Award Winner Elizabeth Price’s new work opens at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

The Daily Telegraph described the two-screen digital video as "the artwork of the year" Read more
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Sara Barker work acquired for The Whitworth, The University of Manchester

At the boundary between sculpture and painting, Sea Heaves in a Glass, 2015, will be going on show at The Whitworth from 10 March 2016. Read more
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Narelle Jubelin, Flamenco Primitivo, at Marlborough Contemporary, London

Narelle Jubelin is an artist whose work has long been concerned with the way ideas transition through time and across continents. Read more
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Becky Beasley, Lake Erie from the Northwest, Laura Bartlett Gallery, London

Becky Beasley’s new show at Laura Bartlett Gallery brings together work from the last 12 years of her career. Read more
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Lost work by Paul Nash to be the centrepiece of a new exhibit at the Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool

This watercolour and chalk drawing has been recently been rediscovered having been lost for 40 years Read more
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Claire Hooper, Clay as Bread and Dust as Wine, Hollybush Gardens, London

“This show is an example of what galleries do at their very best: offering the opportunity for an artist to experiment in a substantial way, to develop and grow their practice, to take risks. Which in this case, in my humble opinion, has paid off handsomely.” Read more
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Chiara Fumai, The Book of Evil Spirits, waterside contemporary, London

If you have ever played Ouija board then you will recognise what adorns the walls of Waterside Contemporary. Italian artist Chiara Fumai explores radical feminism through conjuring the occult in her new show at the Hoxton gallery. Read more
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The Approach and Carlos/Ishikawa, London

Condo is the rather brilliant idea of Vanessa Carlos, co-founder of four year-old Carlos/Ishikawa gallery in Whitechapel. For the last week, just mentioning the gallery exchange project has invariably elicited nodding admiration from everyone who knows about it: in Read more

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Nathaniel Mellors’ most ambitious film to date opens at the Harris Museum, Preston

Mellors won the CAS Annual Award in 2014 and has created an absurdist drama that uses the control of language as its core theme. Read more
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History Lessons on Eastcastle Street

As the new year grinds in to gear after the slumberous holidays, and new shows are starting to open across town, I thought I would just catch up on a couple that opened before Christmas and that you can Read more

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Hito Steyerl film acquired for GoMA, the first work by the artist to enter a UK Collection

Abstract (2012) commemorates a childhood friend of Steyerl’s who became a revolutionary and was killed in the Kurdish region of Turkey in 1998 when fighting for the PKK. Read more
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2016 Aspen Online Art Award Shortlist Announced

The shortlist includes investigations into the boundaries between physical and virtual space, traditional animation techniques and the application of motion graphics in projection mapping and holographic installations. Read more
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Tightrope Walk: Painted Images After Abstraction, curated by Barry Schwabsky, at White Cube Bermondsey, London

For those of you not sensibly leaving town for the holidays, the next week or two offers the opportunity to take a more leisurely approach to getting round town to see shows.  Down at White Cube in Bermondsey, Read more

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Contemporary British Masterpieces for our Collections: A New Scheme to Acquire Great Works

The Great Works scheme, generously supported by the Sfumato Foundation, aims to address the absence in museums across the UK of works by British contemporary artists who have established international reputations over the last 20 years. Read more
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Mark Leckey, Dream English Kid 1964 – 1999 AD, at Cabinet, London

Mark Leckey’s new film showing at Cabinet Gallery was premiered earlier this autumn at the BFI Film Festival in London. Leckey won the Turner Prize in 2008, and is an artist whose work sits in an important relation Read more

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Richard Rigg, Reoccurring Rose Garden, at Workplace London

I’ve been having a lot of conversations, these last few weeks, about how to negotiate a world that seems dominated by event-driven enthusiasm for art fairs, versus the old fashioned gallerist’s ‘craft’ of nurturing a stable of artists and presenting considered, coherent gallery exhibitions that introduce bodies of new work. Read more
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Stephen Sutcliffe and Graham Eatough Win The £40,000 Contemporary Art Society Annual Award 2015

Sutcliffe and Eatough will create a film based on the first and last chapters of Anthony Burgess’ Enderby novels, premiering for the centenary of the author’s birth in 2017. Read more
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Ragnar Kjartansson, The Visitors, at The Vinyl Factory Space, London

Take the time to visit the exhibition of Ragnar Kjartansson at the Brewer Street Car Park in Soho, as music and architecture create a rare emotional charge; an aspect typical of this artist trained and based in Read more

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Nicholas Byrne, Finish your sentence, at Vilma Gold, London

In approaching the work of Nicholas Byrne, one must first and foremost consider the physicality of his paintings. Yes, they do feature elements of figuration: isolated heads, disembodied lips and hands emerge from dense compositions of abstract devices, Read more

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Mark Flood, American Buffet Upgrade, at Modern Art, London

How to write about Mark Flood? He has created a space from which to be critical of the world, and the art world, that is so slippery it’s incredibly enjoyable to observe. Read more
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November 2015

Theaster Gates will be presenting his first and highly anticipated UK public project in Bristol, whilst in London Chantal Akerman's show at Ambika P3 has a particular poignancy following her tragic death in October and pays tribute to her bold creative vision. Read more
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CAS commissioned artists nominated for major 2015 international awards

Three North West Cambridge Development residency artists have been shortlisted for major international awards this year for their work produced at the site. The Habitation Artist Residency Programme is managed by the Contemporary Art Society with InSite Arts.

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Melanie Manchot, THE GIFT, at Bloomberg SPACE, London

“(…) we are in a period in which you could say the digital explosion of the last few years has ushered in a period of mass extinction of objects, the smartphone has killed off your camera, your map, your Read more

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Fiona Banner, Font, at Frith Street Gallery, London

An important mid-career survey of Fiona Banner’s work opened this month at Birmingham’s Ikon Gallery, offering a chance to look across two decades of work and appreciate the development of themes and concerns that have remained constant throughout.  Read more

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Michael Landy, Breaking News, at Michael Landy Studio, London

Michael Landy takes a wry view of the world.  Since the 90s his work has addressed the pressing political issues of the day, as well as delivering a good portion of autobiography.  Talk to him about the Read more

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Matt Copson, Reynard’s Fundament, at Tramps, London

Matt Copson, who graduated from the Slade last year, is showing the latest episode in an ongoing body of work centring on the character of Reynard. Reynard the fox is a figure originating in medieval folklore. Read more
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October 2015

The Contemporary Art Society-commissioned Century Egg by Bedwyr Williams will be showing at British Art Show 8 in Leeds, whilst in London Damien Hirst’s new gallery opens with an intriguing look at the work of abstract painter John Hoyland. Read more
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1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, 15-18 October 2015

Europe’s leading art fair dedicated to Contemporary African Art will return to London for its third edition, 15-18 October 2015.

A reference to fifty-four countries that constitute the African continent, the title of 1:54 establishes the parameters of the Read more

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Anna Barham, Skw, at Arcade, London

“Have you ever tried to clean a squid?” – reads the first line of the text work that is part of Anna Barham’s new show at Arcade gallery in Shoreditch.  Well yes, actually, I have.  So it Read more

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On Herald St

The pace is picking up, people, so before another slew of openings next week, make sure you swoop on Herald Street and check in with a trio of shows all taking on painting from very different angles. Read more
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Varda Caivano at Victoria Miro Gallery, London

Varda Caivano’s third show with her London gallery allows us an in-depth view of her evolving practice. For over a decade now, Caivano has been singled out for the integrity of her negotiations of painting as a proposition. Read more
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Ella Kruglyanskaya, Fancy Problems, Thomas Dane Gallery, London

Thursday night and the ‘back to school’ September vibe was felt everywhere with a slew of openings across town. After dark, Mayfair buzzed with the traffic between galleries, snatches of conversation about where to go next and a sense Read more

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Thomas Hutton

Thomas Hutton (b. 1983, London) is definitely one to watch. His exhibition Stone Anchor at Hunter/Whitfield in Marylebone is a brilliant opportunity to understand the potential of this artist, who first trained as an architectural historian Read more

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September 2015

Bloomberg New Contemporaries will be showing in three different venues across Nottingham before touring to London this year, with the Nottingham Castle Open on at the same time showing work from midlands-based artists. From there it is a short hop to see the brilliant Sir Terry Frost at Leamington Spa or artists including Jake and Dinos Chapman, Maurizio Cattelan and Marcel Duchamp in a series of exhibitions across Sheffield. Read more
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Vestra Private Office Becomes A Corporate Patron of the Contemporary Art Society

The Contemporary Art Society is proud to announce that Vestra Private Office has become our second Corporate Patron, helping us to ensure that significant works of contemporary art continue to enter public collections across the country.

Vestra Private Read more

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Ten Etchings by Lynette Yiadom-Boakye Acquired for The Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery

Yiadom-Boakye’s edition of ten hard ground etchings was made to accompany her acclaimed exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery this summer and depict single black male figures wearing the ruff of feathers that has become a familiar motif in her work. Read more
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The Manchester Contemporary

Private View – Thursday 24 September 2015, 17.30-21.00

Join us for free at the private view of the 6th edition of The Manchester Contemporary, a unique chance to meet with the gallerists and artists. Champagne and canapés will Read more

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Natalie Dower’s ‘Red Flyer’ (1989) is Reunited with Mead Gallery, Warwick

Last year, the Contemporary Art Society acquired a significant work by Natalie Dower for the Mead Gallery, University of Warwick Art Collection. The founding collection of the University of Warwick was a group of abstract, Read more

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New Publication Features the Contemporary Art Society’s Consultancy Work with Aspen

Global Corporate Collections, a new 700 page publication by Deutsche Standard EDITIONEN, sheds light, for the first time, onto 80 corporate art collections considered to be among the best in the world. Presented in print Read more

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Momart Becomes the Inaugural Corporate Patron of the Contemporary Art Society

The Contemporary Art Society is proud to announce that Momart have become our inaugural Corporate Patron, helping us to ensure that significant works of contemporary art continue to enter public collections across the country.

Momart is a globally-respected art Read more

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Contemporary Art Society to Create Unique Immersive Artist Experiences as Fundraising Initiative

The Artist’s Table will be a series of four bespoke artist curated experiences across the year, each hosted by an internationally recognised collector and an artist of their choice. Read more
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Shortlist announced for the Contemporary Art Society Annual Award 2015

Now in its seventh year, the prestigious £40,000 prize is one of the country’s highest value contemporary art awards. Read more
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Anne Hardy, fig-2, ICA London and Twin Fields, The Common Guild, Glasgow

The coincidence of two notable solo shows by this London-based artist prompts me to write about Anne Hardy today. If you happened to cross Waterloo bridge last autumn you will have seen part of Hardy’s contribution to the Hayward’s Mirror City exhibition: in addition to an installation inside the gallery, six photographic works were installed as enormous billboards across several of the gallery’s sculpture terraces looking out over the river or on to Waterloo Bridge. Read more
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Postcard from Holland

To: Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery; The Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery, University of Leeds; Mead Gallery, University of Warwick; Touchstones Rochdale; The McManus, Dundee Art Gallery & Museum   From: CAS Curatorial Team

This unusually long postcard Read more

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Two Significant Films by Ben Rivers Acquired For Royal Pavilion & Museum, Brighton & Hove, and Bristol Museum & Art Gallery

'Ah, Liberty!' (2008) and 'Origin of The Species' (2008) both capture contemplative portraits of individuals living at the margins of society. Read more
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Postcard from Basel

“Drinking from the fire hose” is the expression that springs to mind to describe the sensation of two days spent at Art Basel. It is the grandest of all the art fairs across the world, the quality, range and scale of the work is astounding; and each year the skies over Basel Mulhouse airport darken with the flocks (flights, squadrons?) of private jets bringing in starry collectors. Read more
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Anonymous Dancers take over the Internet for Aspen Online Art Award 2015

The performers’ movements will represent the actions we repeatedly use when we go to visit both online and physical sites Read more
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Anonymous Dancers to take over the Internet for the £5,000 Aspen Online Art Award 2015

The performers’ movements will represent the actions we repeatedly use when we go to visit both online and physical sites Read more
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Daiwa Foundation Art Prize 2015, London

The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation presents the work of the artists shortlisted for this year’s Daiwa Art Prize; Oliver Beer, Julie Brook and Mikhail Karikis. The winner was announced last night: Oliver Beer with Reanimation – Snow White, 2014. Read more

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Major New Initiative to Support Female Artists in Public Collections Announced

The Contemporary Art Society and Valeria Napoleone, in partnership with Camden Arts Centre, will launch a major new initiative in April 2016, supporting the acquisition of significant works by female artists for UK museums and taking a lead in Read more

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Peter Davies RITES at The Approach & Lynette Yiadom-Boakye Verses After Dusk at The Serpentine Gallery

Just to mix things up a bit I am flagging not one but two shows this week.  Both are painting shows and both have opened in the last few days; there are no connections between them but for Read more

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George Shaw at Wilkinson Gallery, London

It is four years since we have had a chance to see a body of new work by George Shaw.  In 2011 he had an enormous solo show at Baltic in Gateshead, which some of you may Read more

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X, curated by Sarah McCrory, at Herald St, London

Markus Amm, Josh Brand, Alexandra Bircken, Pablo Bronstein, Peter Coffin, Matt Connors, Matthew Darbyshire , Michael Dean, Ida Ekblad, Annette Kelm, Scott King, Cary Kwok, Christina Mackie, Djordje Ozbolt, Matt Paweski, Amalia Pica, Nick Relph, Tony Swain, Donald Urquhart, Read more

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David Maljkovic at Sprüth Magers, London

Given the focus on today as a very particular moment in this country’s political history, perhaps it is interesting to look at an artist for whom shifts, repetitions and rips in time are at the heart of his work. Read more

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Commissioned Artworks by David Batchelor and Richard Wentworth Unveiled for the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith

Since the initial conception for the capital project there has been a strong desire to incorporate the work of contemporary artists and both commissions have been managed and curated by the Contemporary Art Society Read more
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Roger Hiorns at Corvi-Mora, London

Simplicity is a paradoxical thing. One becomes wary, with experience, of presuming that works that ostensibly operate in a straightforward way are as innocent as they seem. The more one can talk to artists, the more it is to Read more

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Friday Dispatch: Roman Signer, Slow Movement, at The Curve, Barbican, London

Roman Signer is not an artist over-familiar to UK audiences: he had shows at Camden Arts Centre in 2001 and Edinburgh’s lovely Fruitmarket Gallery in 2007, but shows far more regularly in Europe.  So it is very Read more

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Conrad Shawcross, Three Perpetual Chords, Dulwich Park, London

No Friday Dispatch this week due to ill health – but if you are looking for something to do this weekend why not head down to Dulwich Park, tomorrow Saturday 18 March, 14.00 to join the artist Conrad Shawcross Read more

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miart 2015, Fieramilanocity, Milan

Milan in the springtime is quite lovely.  Narrow yellow trams rattle through the streets, purple wisteria elegantly drapes tall buildings and the population is moving about, seemingly with a general air of delight associated with the idea that Read more

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‘CLASSICICITY: Ancient art, contemporary objects’ at Breese Little, London

 

Nell Allen, Edward Allington, Maggi Hambling, Richard Hawkins, Rachel Kneebone, Tory Lawrence, Sarah Lucas, Ged Quinn, Ryan M Pfeiffer + Rebecca Walz, Mary Reid Kelley and Alexandre Singh

Back in 1990, the Tate mounted an exhibition called  Read more

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Over £213,500 Raised at the Contemporary Art Society Annual Fundraising Gala

25 March 2014

Last night’s Contemporary Art Society Annual Fundraising Gala has raised over £213,500 to benefit the charity’s mission to purchase new works of contemporary art for museums across the UK.

The gala, themed KALEIDOSCOPE: Colour in Motion Read more

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Annual Fundraiser Kaleidoscope 2015 catalogue is now live

The Contemporary Art Society's Annual Fundraiser 2015 Kaleidoscope catalogue is now available to view either online or to download. Read more
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Maaike Schoorel, Sub-Lo, at Maureen Paley, London

20 March 2015

Let’s think about painting this week.  And in particular Maaike Schoorel, whose fourth show with Maureen Paley opened a few days ago. Originally from the Netherlands, educated there and in London, Schoorel is having Read more

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Video: Conrad Shawcross Reveals the Making Process of his ‘Three Perpetual Chords’

Shawcross, the youngest living Royal Academician, is currently fabricating a series of cast iron sculptures for Dulwich Park, which will be launched to the public on 18 April 2015. Read more
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Lucy Clout & Marianna Simnett, Jerwood/FVU Awards 2015, What Will They See of Me? at Jerwood Space, London

What Will They See Of Me? is the second iteration of the finely judged collaboration between venerable commissioning agency Film and Video Umbrella and the Jerwood Charitable Foundation.  The first version of this commissioning and development award Read more

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Recent Acquisition of ‘Production Line, 2015’ Breaks Boundaries in Conventional Museum Collecting

The work is ephemeral, almost a performance, and will only exist in all three collections as an archive which includes time-lapse photography and film. Read more
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If a Circle Meets Itself at Hollybush Gardens, London

Peles Empire, Esther Ferrer, Sunil Gupta, Lubaina Himid, Fred Lonidier, Eline McGeorge, Ruth Proctor, Joachim Schmid

This is very much a last-chance-to-see call to action as the current show at Hollybush Gardens closes tomorrow, in advance of Johanna Billing Read more

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Andrea Büttner and Brit Meyer at Piper Keys, London

The beaten up 1950s warehouse does nothing to prepare you for the elegance of the installation of work by Andrea Büttner and Brit Meyer. The work and the hang are both spare and lean. Büttner invited her ex-student Meyer to show with her and the pairing of the well known artist and the just-graduated is unselfconsciously and delicately played out. Read more
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Andrea Büttner and Brit Meyer at Piper Keys, London

It’s been a beautiful afternoon.  Even in the city, you can’t escape the sense of the hastening of spring.  Whitechapel High Street bustles with people carrying fresh fruit and veg in thin, blue plastic bags; there is Read more

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LA MER INSOMNIAQUE, Natalie Häusler, Eric Sidner, Margo Wolowiec, at Laura Bartlett Gallery, London

Spring’s suddenly on hold and it’s going to rain all weekend. So the only thing to do is get out there and look at some interesting shows. The Approach has obligingly extended its wonderful Bill Lynch exhibition to 1 March so you can catch that, have a pub lunch downstairs with a glass of something to warm the cockles, then head over to Herald Street to see Laura Bartlett’s current show. Read more
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Cross Section of a Revolution at Lisson Gallery, London

Allora & Calzadilla, Broomberg & Chanarin, Liu Xiaodong, Haroon Mirza, Rashid Rana, Wael Shawky, Santiago Sierra

With a bit of a change of tone in relation to the last few weeks, today I want to recommend you take a Read more

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Luc Tuymans, The Shore, at David Zwirner, London

Luc Tuymans, one of the giant figures in contemporary painting, landed in London again last week, with his second show for the David Zwirner gallery here.  For anyone pretending to be interested in what is current in Read more

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Natalie Dray, DRAY, at Cell Projects Space, London

Natalie Dray has been part of group shows at V22 and Palazzo Peckham in London in the past few years, as well as having participated in some international exhibitions in Europe, but this is her first solo presentation in London since graduating from the Royal Academy Schools last year. Read more
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Mary Ramsden, Swipe, at Pilar Corrias Gallery, London

This week I would like to encourage you to see a show which opened last night in the West End, featuring the work of a young painter recently graduated from the Royal Academy Schools. Read more
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On Golden Square – Danh Vō, Homosapiens, at Marian Goodman Gallery and Daniel Silver, Rock Formations, at Frith Street Gallery, London

Let us start the year with a pair of must-see solo exhibitions that both opened last night. Danh Vō and approach the proposition of object making from very different angles, and viewed at such close proximity – at Marian Read more

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Mary Reid Kelley

Mary Reid Kelley (b. 1979, Greenville, South Carolina, USA) combines painting, performance, and a distinctive wordplay-rich poetry in her polemical, graphically stylised videos. Performing as a First World War soldier, a grisette in revolutionary Paris, or the Minotaur, Read more

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Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2014 and Julie Verhoeven at ICA, London

The fortieth, and final Dispatch of 2014 reports from the ICA which on a dark, cold and blustery December night was absolutely hopping with energy yesterday.  For anyone crazy enough to brave the a) weather, b) crowds and Read more

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Joachim Brohm, Vernacular and Modern, at Grimaldi Gavin, London

For the penultimate Dispatch of 2014 I am back in the West End of London at the Grimaldi Gavin gallery on Albermarle Street. This is a gallery with no shop front, so you have got to know it is there, but counterintuitively, once you descend to the lower ground floor you find a gracefully proportioned suite of rooms flooded with natural light from a glass atrium roof. It’s a pleasure just to discover this unexpectedly delightful space in a street you thought you knew so well. Read more
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Get 60% off ‘Weak Messages’ by David Shrigley

Get 60% off when you buy a copy of Weak Messages Create Bad Situations – a manifesto by David Shrigley – before Christmas.

 

A wonderful present for anyone interested in contemporary art this Christmas or a sneaky, laughter-filled Read more

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Caragh Thuring at Chisenhale Gallery, London

It is always quite exciting when the Chisenhale Gallery turns itself over to a painter. We are more used to walking down the concrete ramp and entering a darkened space to view time-based works, or negotiating installations that cram Read more

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Nathaniel Mellors Wins the £40,000 Contemporary Art Society Annual Award 2014

Mellors will create a film that will form the centrepiece of a 15 month exhibition on the themes of Samuel Beckett and The Theatre of the Absurd. Read more
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Chance and Order at The Eagle Gallery, London

Andrew Bick, Katrina Blannin, Natalie Dower, Kenneth Martin, Mary Martin, Jeffrey Steele 

Emma Hill set up The Eagle Gallery, in a beautifully proportioned room above the Eagle Pub on Farringdon Road in 1991 – long before the Read more

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Julian Stair, Quotidian, at Corvi Mora, London

I should declare my hand from the outset here: I have, until very recently, been a life-long craft-denier. I am in a process of rehabilitation, and must thank a number of patient individuals, who know who they are, for gently easing me out of this state of profound ignorance. I am therefore probably the least qualified person imaginable to address the most recent exhibition of work by the very distinguished ceramicist, and academic, Julian Stair. But I will plough on, with all the zeal of a recent convert. Read more
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CAS North – Future Operations from 1 April 2015

CAS North was founded in 2009 in order to stimulate the market for contemporary art in the region Read more
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A Grand Day Out

This week I am going to try and tempt you out of London and up to Yorkshire, where in a day trip you can take in an amazing variety of contemporary art of the highest order. And on the Read more

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Philippe Van Snick, Eviter Le Pire, at Arcade Fine Arts, London

For the next three weeks, as the nights draw in and the colour seems to drain out of the natural world with the falling of the leaves, should you wander down Lever Street in the late afternoon you will Read more

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November 2014

LONDON EXHIBITONS

MIRRORCITY, Hayward Gallery

mirrorcity.southbankcentre.co.uk

14 October 2014 – 4 January 2015

Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX

London is one of the world’s centres for contemporary art. MIRRORCITY shows recent work and new commissions by key Read more

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Tamara Henderson, Charmer Scripture, and Banu Cennetoglu, Gentle Madness, at Rodeo, London

Charing Cross Road. 123 Charing Cross Road, to be precise. It’s an address that evokes a romantic, bookish notion of London. It’s also the London of theatreland, of international students with matching rucksacks and of ‘arty’ bookshops with pulsing neon signs and pulsating basements. Read more
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James Richards, Raking Light, at Cabinet Gallery, London

One of the distinguishing features of the offerings of Frieze week this year has been the relative absence of the moving image work that had dominated in previous years.  Performance and the immersive experience have been the themes Read more

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One Man’s Trash (is Another Man’s Treasure) at Danjuma Collection, London

Neil Beloufa, Simon Denny, Matias Faldbakken, Cyprien Gaillard, Nicholas Hlobo, Yngve Holen, Rashid Johnson, Moshekwa Langa, Klara Liden, Glenn Ligon, Sarah Lucas, Ernest Mancoba, Julie Mehretu, Nandipha Mntambo, Chadwick Ratanen, Sterling Ruby, Gerda Scheepers, Dineo Seshee Bopape, Gedi Sibony, Read more

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Olivier Castel, ONCE ACROSS THE BRIDGE, PHANTOMS CAME TO MEET THEM, at ANDOR, London

Olivier Castel’s exhibition at ANDOR Gallery on Hackney Road begins before you step off the pavement and into the gallery.  Installed over the gates is a large scale LED display, showing looped images in striking red and Read more

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Last chance to see – Dorothea Tanning, Web of Dreams, at Alison Jacques Gallery, London

But afterwards I wandered up to Alison Jacques Gallery, and the show of predominantly late paintings by Dorothea Tanning, who died in 2012 aged 101. Tanning’s surrealising paintings of female figures in interiors, distorted bodies and tangled limbs seemed like a continuation of the lunchtime conversation. Read more
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On The Devolution Of Culture at Rob Tufnell, London

Rob Tufnell’s gallery – for those who have yet to visit – is located just a five-minute walk from Tate Britain, in the direction of Horseferry Road. It occupies one of the rather lovely neo-classical pavilions that punctuate the Read more

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John Hilliard, Not Black And White, at Richard Saltoun Gallery, London

This week’s Dispatch is an urgent call out to all those serious collectors of photography who have not yet seen the current exhibition at Richard Saltoun’s gallery, just an aerodynamic stone’s throw from Oxford Circus. John Hilliard  Read more

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Rebecca Ackroyd, CARBURETTOR, at Kinman, London

The penultimate exhibition at Henry Kinman’s subterranean space in Curtain Road is an engaging and confident solo show by 27-year-old Rebecca Ackroyd, who is still studying for a Post-Graduate Diploma at the Royal Academy School in London. The Read more

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Magali Reus

Magali Reus’ (b. 1981, Den Haag) sculptural installations derive from ideas of compartmentalised privacy often experienced in bathrooms and kitchens. Motifs of filling and emptying, stuffing and purging, Reus’ sculptures allude to fridges, toilet seats and cooking pots. Read more

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Yvonne Rainer at Raven Row, London

On a sultry morning I threaded my way from Liverpool Street, through the narrow alleys around Spitalfields market to the wonderful Raven Row gallery. Alex Sainsbury has established a widely admired programme here that regularly includes museum quality examinations Read more

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Les Rencontres 2014 and Vincent Van Gogh Foundation, Arles, France

Today’s dispatch comes to you from Arles, baking beneath the intense blue skies of Provence. Poised on the brink of change, this ancient walled city of pale golden stone is offering up the very last Rencontres Read more

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July at The Approach, London

Phillip Allen Forrest Bess Vittorio Brodmann Stuart Cumberland Clive Hodgson Allison Katz Alastair MacKinven Lucy Stein Walter Swennen Caragh Thuring Sam Windett

What happens in the “summer slot” in a gallery’s programme is a bit of a test of Read more

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Contemporary Art Society announces new Chair of the Board of Trustees

Caroline Douglas, Director of the Contemporary Art Society, announced today that the organisation’s Trustees have appointed Christopher Jonas CBE as the Chair of the Board of Trustees. He will take up the post formally in August 2014. Read more
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July & August 2014

LONDON

Edward Thomasson, The Present Tense

www.chisenhale.org.uk

3 July – 24 August 2014

64 Chisenhale Road, London E3 5QZ

Chisenhale Gallery presents the first major solo exhibition by Edward Thomasson and the premiere of his video, The Read more

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HOUSE at Hollybush Gardens, London

A late lunch, a quick detour to drop something at the framers, and then a solitary walk through the backstreets to Hollybush Gardens. These last days of June in London are warm and sultry; rain is coming. There is Read more

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Rachael Champion, Primary Producers, at Hales Gallery, London

Rachael Champion is another noteworthy alumnus of the Royal Academy schools and her first solo show at Hales Gallery in the Tea Building near Liverpool Street Station is an opportunity to get a handle on an artist who is Read more

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Consultancy News: June 2014

Expanding on our work with Aspen curating their global art collection we recently set up the Aspen Online Art Award. Working in partnership with universities across Britain a shortlist of eight artists was identified by a selection panel. The winner, Yi-Chun Lin from London College of Communication will receive a commission prize of £4,000 to produce a new work for Aspen’s extensive contemporary art collection – and its first online artwork. Read more
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Bridget Riley, The Stripe Paintings 1961 – 2014, at David Zwirner, London

This sparkling summer’s day, I want to send you to Mayfair to see one of the most glorious shows of the year. In a new collaboration between David Zwirner and Karsten Schubert, Bridget Riley is showing a group of 15 stripe paintings and a small collection of studies on paper. Read more
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Contemporary Art Society Annual Award 2014 Shortlist Announced

For Immediate Release

10 June 2014

Contemporary Art Society Annual Award 2014 Shortlist Announced

The four shortlisted museums and their nominated artists for the Contemporary Art Society Annual Award 2014 have been announced today. The nominees are:

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Céline Condorelli at Chisenhale Gallery, London

To the Chisenhale Gallery this week, the redoubtable incubator and R&D division for contemporary art that has been powering away in the East End for so many years, and is currently thriving under the directorship of Polly Staple. Read more
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Jan Pleitner / Lee Lozano, ‘doowylloh’, at Ancient & Modern, London

I would like to draw your attention today to the work of Jan Pleitner whose new paintings are currently on show at Ancient & Modern in Whitecross Street. Read more
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June 2014

LONDON EXHIBITIONS

Saskia Olde Wolbers: Yes, these Eyes are the Windows, Art Angel

www.artangel.org.uk

3 May – 22 June 2014

87 Hackford Road, London SW9 0RE

What traces of lives can a place contain? A blue plaque on Read more

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Haris Epaminonda & part wild horses mane on both sides, Part I / Part II at Rowing, London

This week I want to send you to the diminutive Rowing gallery in Kentish Town. Tucked away up a slightly shabby side street, and inhabiting a former piano factory, this outfit has been running since summer 2012 and works with an ultra-cool list of young artists that includes Andy Holden, Samara Scott and Rachel McLean. Read more
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Laurence Kavanagh, ‘May’, at Marlborough Contemporary, London

Laurence Kavanagh‘s first exhibition at Marlborough Contemporary employs a determinedly lo-fi, hand-made aesthetic. Old fashioned collage is central here – conjure the sound of razor-sharp blades slicing through paper – incisions, excisings and graftings dominate in the sculpture Read more

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Artist Yi-Chun Lin Announced as Recipient of Aspen Online Art Award

Yi-Chun Lin has been announced today as the recipient of the Aspen Online Art Award 2014. Launched by Aspen in association with the Contemporary Art Society, this unique award is the first student award for commissioning online art in the UK. Read more
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Saskia Olde Wolbers, Yes, these Eyes are the Windows, an Artangel commission

Spring is here and with it the latest episode in the uxorious love-affair between Artangel and the grande dame that is the city of London. Previous episodes of note have included the unforgettable House by Rachel Whiteread Read more

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Eva Rothschild at Modern Art and Jessie Flood-Paddock at Carl Freedman Gallery, London

I have two unmissable shows for you this week. The Spring break means there is a traffic jam of exhibitions all opening together right now but I suggest that first of all you get along to see Eva Rothschild's latest body of work, inaugurating Stuart Shave's much anticipated new gallery just to the side of St Luke's church on Old Street. Read more
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Press Release: Contemporary Art Society plays host to three pioneering female painters

The display takes a fresh look at three of today’s most exciting artists who have developed their own distinctive responses to the practice of painting. Read more
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Spring 2014

LONDON EXHIBITIONS

Martin Creed, What’s the point of it?, Hayward

Gallery

www.southbankcentre.co.uk

29 January – 5 May 2014

A survey of Martin Creed’s playful, thought-provoking art.Over the past two and a half decades British artist Martin Creed has Read more

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David Murphy, Certain Impacts, at PEER

This week I am sending you to Hoxton Street, and to the redoubtable PEER, an institution which has been an important, critically independent voice on the London scene since 1997.  Currently showing there is a young artist called Read more

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Richard Mosse, The Enclave, at The Vinyl Factory Space, London

Unless you have a particular interest in sub-Saharan Africa, it would be quite easy to be blithely unaware of the horrors playing out in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Such is the lack of mainstream news coverage of a Read more

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Benedict Drew at Matt’s Gallery, London

Walking into the first room of Benedict Drew’s new installation at Matt’s Gallery the flat screen monitor that confronts you somehow seems to sense your presence and, showing an image of some smart Sennheiser headphones, instructs “You Will Need Read more

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Sarah Jones at MAUREEN PALEY

Sarah Jones is at the top of her game. No question. In her sixth show with Maureen Paley in Bethnal Green she demonstrates a technical mastery and the finely tuned sensibility for composition that are the product of Read more

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Francis Upritchard at Kate MacGarry, London

Kate MacGarry loves a bit of an art/craft crossover: a number of her artists use ceramics and textiles as part of their vocabulary (witness the tapestries of Goshka Macuga, Renee So’s wonderful knitted works and Tiago Carneiro Da Cunha’s ceramics), and Francis Upritchard’s latest show reinforces the profile of one of London’s most distinctive and best loved contemporary galleries. Read more
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Press Release: Contemporary Art Society stages another spectacular fundraising gala

Over £250,000 was raised to benefit the charity’s mission, including stand-out prices for Roger Hiorns, Michael Landy and Daniel Silver Read more
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Friday Dispatch: John Akomfrah, Phoebe Boswell, Rashaad Newsome at Carroll / Fletcher, Graham Gussin at Marlborough Contemporary

This week I am going to give a quick heads up on two shows that both opened last night: the first is a group show at Carroll / Fletcher on Eastcastle Street, just off Oxford Street. Read more
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March 2014

LONDON EXHIBITIONS

Abstract Drawing, Drawing Room

drawingroom.org.uk

20 February – 19 April 2014

Artist Richard Deacon has selected a broad range of works by over 30 artists spanning the last 105 years on the idea of Read more

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Helen Marten

Helen Marten uses sculptural assemblage and video to reflect upon the relationship between two and three dimensional form. Taking as a starting point the contemporary image world, the flattened digital space through which associations between the disparate are often Read more

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Friday Dispatch: Becky Beasley, The Walk…in green, at Laura Bartlett Gallery, London

Becky Beasley’s fourth exhibition with Laura Bartlett Gallery, now in Bethnal Green, has all the elements that we have come to expect of her subtle practice as an artist. There are multiple literary references, from the ideograms of Laurence Read more

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Press Release: Call for entries to Contemporary Art Society Annual Award 2014

For immediate release, 27 February 2014

The Contemporary Art Society is now calling for entries to the Contemporary Art Society Annual Award 2014 – a unique commissioning award in the UK.

Established in 2009 and generously supported by the Read more

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Aspen Online Art Award

Contemporary Art Society’s Consultancy is working with Aspen to deliver the UK’s first student award for online art. Working in partnership with universities across Britain, Aspen’s Online Art Award is one to watch. Read more
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Ryan Mosley at Alison Jacques Gallery, London

Time was when being picked up by Charles Saatchi was all a young artist needed to launch them commercially, but our world is a more complex place now, and so four years after he was included in Newspeak:British Read more

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Annual Fundraiser 2014: Works by Turner Prize winners to go on sale in Contemporary Art Society gala

Livia Firth has been appointed Honorary Chair of the gala, which raises vital funds to purchase contemporary art for museums across the UK. Read more
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Gary Webb, X7 City, at Bloomberg SPACE, London

Bloomberg SPACE in Finsbury Square, London is a fairly uncompromising, corporate architecture, that might at first look as if it offers the ideal neutrality for showing contemporary art, but can in fact sometimes prove too weighty an opponent. Gary Webb's current show grabs the space and makes it his own. Read more
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Matthew Darbyshire at Herald St, London

Figurative sculpture is having a bit of a moment in 2014, with a potential peak due in June when the Hayward Gallery opens its thematic summer show The Human Form, curated by director Ralph Rugoff. Simon Fujiwara’s Read more

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Helen Marten at Sadie Coles HQ and Paul McCarthy at SPACE, London

The first I ever heard of Helen Marten was in 2010 when distinguished critic and art historian Michael Archer literally came up and whispered in my ear at Frieze London.  “You’d better move fast”  Read more

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Raphael Hefti

Raphael Hefti (b.1978) engages with industrial and natural processes which are pushed and manipulated to their limits to create arresting works across a range of media including photography, sculpture and performance. From a series of beautifully coloured photograms, Lycopodium Read more

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Isaac Julien at Victoria Miro, London and Marvin Gaye Chetwynd at Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham

Rather than a ‘last chance to see’, this week’s commercial gallery tip is a ‘be among the first to see’, because everyone is going to be talking about this show. The cavernous upper space at Victoria Miro’s Wharf Road Read more

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February 2014

firstsite presents a retrospective exhibition of drawing, prints and sculpture by the New York-based artist, Agnes Denes. This will be the first major survey of the artist’s work in Western Europe and her first solo exhibition in the UK since 1979. Read more
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Press Release: Oliver Laric’s Annual Award commission launches online

Laric’s commission uses the latest digital scanning methods to render some of Lincoln’s most treasured and historic sculptures in highly-detailed 3D. Read more
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Friday Dispatch: Agnes Denes at firstsite, Colchester and The Psychotropic House at Guest Projects, London

Friday Dispatch this week is Agnes Denes at firstsite, Colchester and The Psychotropic House at Guest Projects, London.

In the week that two great shows by women artists of different generations make waves in London – Hannah Hoch at Read more

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Agnes Denes at firstsite, Colchester and The Psychotropic House at Guest Projects, London

Friday Dispatch this week is Agnes Denes at firstsite, Colchester and The Psychotropic House at Guest Projects, London. Read more
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Kaye Donachie at Maureen Paley and Paul Noble: Past the Future, Tate Britain

Responding to popular demand, here is my first Friday Dispatch: a couple of pointers each week to suggest shows that might otherwise escape your attention. Departing from the previous model, I am going to select some museum Read more

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Philanthropists Eric and Jean Cass receive New Year Honours

The Contemporary Art Society is delighted to congratulate Eric and Jean Cass on being awarded OBEs in the New Year Honours List. The long-time supporters of the Contemporary Art Society have each received the accolade for philanthropic service to Read more

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New Contemporary Art Society North team

Following the departure of Rebecca Morrill in November we are delighted to announce the appointment of two new members of staff for the North team – Matthew Hearn who will be covering the North East region and Moira Read more

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Press Release: Works by Roger Hiorns, Haroon Mirza, Michael Landy and Caroline Achaintre confirmed for 2014 charity auction

The gala raises vital funds to purchase new works of contemporary art for UK museums. Read more
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Heather Phillipson

Heather Phillipson works with sculpture, moving image, text and sound, creating video installations and ‘talking pictures’ (video with live voice) that weave the viewer through a collage of fragmentary and evolving ideas and narratives in multi-sensory environments. As Adrian Read more

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Three drawings by David Shrigley purchased for Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford

The Contemporary Art Society has purchased three drawings by Turner Prize nominee David Shrigley as a gift for Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford. The works can be viewed at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery from Friday 29 November in anticipation Read more

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Anna Barham

With a practice that incorporates writing, video, drawing, sculpture and performance, Anna Barham’s work interrogates language’s endless and unruly potential through the bodily and technological operations that act upon it.

Earlier projects have particularly concentrated on the structural Read more

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November 2013

LONDON EXHIBITONS

Tomorrow: Elmgreen & Dragset, Victoria and Albert Museum

1 October 2013 – 2 January 2014

vam.ac.uk

Enter the world of Norman Swann, elderly architect and proprietor of an elaborate apartment in South Kensington. As Norman struggles to Read more

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Press Release: Mark Wallinger to present £60,000 Contemporary Art Society Annual Award 2013

Now in its fifth year, the prestigious £60,000 prize is one of highest value contemporary art awards in the country Read more
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Announcement: Sir Anthony Caro (8 March 1924 – 23 October 2013)

It is with enormous sadness that we mark the death yesterday of Sir Anthony Caro OM CBE RA, one of the great figures of 20th century art in Britain and internationally. Read more
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Press Release: Conrad Shawcross named as Dulwich Park commission winner

For immediate release, 21.10.13

Last year, Southwark Council appointed the Contemporary Art Society to manage the artist commissioning process for a new artwork for Dulwich Park. Following a public consultation and deliberation by the Dulwich Park Commission Steering Group, Read more

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Press Release: 28 leading artists from the North of England on display at Contemporary Art Society

For over 100 years, the Contemporary Art Society has worked to identify emerging talent and provide support for artists from all over the UK. The organisation's latest exhibition at 59 Central Street, Tip of the Iceberg, showcases a selection of works by artists based in the North of England. Curated by Mark Doyle and Rebecca Morrill of Contemporary Art Society North, the display aims to bring these artists to the attention of a broader audience. Read more
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Press Release: AK Dolven appointed as artist for North West Cambridge local centre commission

For immediate release, 4.10.13

The University of Cambridge has commissioned the Norwegian artist, AK Dolven, to create a permanent public artwork for the new local centre at North West Cambridge. The local centre commission is part of the Read more

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October 2013

LONDON EXHIBITONS

Art Licks Weekend

4 – 6 October 2013

artlicksweekend.com

The dominant picture of the capital’s creative sector does not represent the wealth of projects happening amongst younger artists and curators in spaces outside of central London. Art Read more

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Oscar Murillo

Oscar Murillo works across a wide range of media and techniques, including paint, printmaking, sculpture, installation, video and events. The materials Murillo uses often inhabit his studio for a long period of time, where they accumulate the traces of Read more

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Press Release: Pop works from £4 million Eric & Jean Cass Gift to go on display at Contemporary Art Society (16 October – 22 November 2013)

Collectors Eric and Jean Cass recently donated over 300 important modern and contemporary artworks to the Contemporary Art Society for gifting to museums, including works by Karel Appel, Michael Craig-Martin, Barbara Hepworth, Joan Miro, Henry Read more

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September 2013

LONDON EXHIBITIONS

«A«Tri»Lick», PEER

20 July – 14 September 2013

www.peeruk.org

Caroline Achaintre, Sarah Bowker-Jones and George Young have distinct and divergent approaches to material and process. For this exhibition, all three have produced new work and have Read more

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Press Release: Forthcoming Displays at Contemporary Art Society

Forthcoming displays at Contemporary Art Society, September 2013 - February 2014 Read more
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Press Release: Contemporary Art Society announces new Director

6 August 2013

The Contemporary Art Society is pleased to announce that Caroline Douglas has been appointed to lead the Contemporary Art Society as Director from October 2013. Caroline joins the Contemporary Art Society from the Arts Read more

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Press Release: High-profile panel shortlists museums and artists in running for £60,000 Contemporary Art Society Annual Award

17 July 2013

The Contemporary Art Society is delighted to announce the shortlisted museums and their nominated artists in line to receive this year’s Contemporary Art Society Annual Award for Museums. These are:

* Ashmolean Museum of Art and Read more

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Press Release: Flesh, nudity and the body take centre-stage in latest Contemporary Art Society display

10 July 2013

Public Display: 4 September – 4 October

Artist Talk (John Stezaker): 12 September, 19.00 (booking required)

Nude collages by influential British artist John Stezaker are to go on display Read more

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Hobson’s Choice – Cornelia Parker at Frith Street Gallery

For more than twenty years British artist Cornelia Parker has been building a rich and intellectually complex body of work. As an artist, Parker spends much of her time running errands and managing various aspects of production connected to her practice. Here she notices the marks, scraps of decay and detritus of the city, which to her appear as moments of poetry, and are usually overlooked by others. Her new exhibition at Frith Street Gallery deifies some of these moments; cracks, stains, repairs and discarded objects are made extraordinary, physical and precious. Read more
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Press Release: Contemporary Art Society to display early David Hockney prints bequeathed by philanthropist

6 June 2013

Public Display: 5 June – 16 August Curator Talk: 13 June, 19.00

From 5 June, the Contemporary Art Society will display a selection of early etchings from the 1960s by internationally Read more

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Eddie Peake

As part of our continuing Artist to Watch series we are pleased to introduce you this month to the practice of artist Eddie Peake. Read more
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Press Release: Contemporary Art Society appoints fellows to research impact of philanthropy on public art collections across England

29 May 2013

The Contemporary Art Society is pleased to announce the details of three fellows who will curate a series of displays at the Whitechapel Gallery from September 2013, supported by a touring exhibition, Read more

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Press Release: Henry Moore sculpture, gifted to the nation by Contemporary Art Society in 1967, is restored to benefit UK audiences

24 May 2013

After 26 days, the conservation of Henry Moore’s historic sculpture, Knife Edge Two Piece (1962-5) has been completed, restoring the work to its original state after decades of disrepair and vandalism, and revealing the Read more

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Press Release: UK museums selected to acquire new media or “challenging” artworks often missing from public collections

3 May 2013

The Contemporary Art Society, in association with the Art Fund, is pleased to announce the inaugural winners of their new Testing Media initiative, which enables institutions across the UK to Read more

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Matthew Darbyshire

As part of our continuing Artist to Watch series we are pleased to introduce you this month to the practice of artist Matthew Darbyshire. Read more
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May 2013

CAS Recommends eight public or non-profit exhibitions in the UK this May. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice – Carol Rhodes at Mummery + Schnelle

Carol Rhodes is well known for her dream-like aerial landscape paintings of edge-lands and semi-industrial landscapes collaged from real environments into fictional views that teeter on the brink of abstraction. Read more
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Open Day – EC1/WC1 Galleries

The Contemporary Art Society, will be participating in Open Day – EC1/WC1 Galleries, hosting special events and extending their opening hours from 12.00 to 20.00 on Saturday 18 May. Read more
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Press Release: Contemporary Art Society seeks new Director following Paul Hobson’s appointment as Director of Modern Art Oxford

The Trustees of the Contemporary Art Society have today announced that Paul Hobson, Director of the Contemporary Art Society, will leave the charity in the summer to take up the Directorship of Modern Art Oxford in September. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice – Ivan Seal at Carl Freedman Gallery

Ivan Seal is a British painter who has attracted critical interest for his paintings which appear to be still lives but are in fact painted from his imagination. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice – North South Divine at WW Gallery

Leaving behind the bustling jewellery shops and markets of Hatton Garden in London and diving down a tiny alleyway packed with character, one arrives at the WW Gallery’s new exhibition space. Read more
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Three Curatorial Fellowship Opportunities generously supported by Arts Council England

The Contemporary Art Society and the Whitechapel Gallery are delighted to offer three curatorial fellowships providing a unique opportunity to undertake substantial research into public collections in England. Read more
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Press Release: First artists-in-residence for North West Cambridge development appointed

Over the next 20 years Cambridge University will undertake the greatest planned expansion in its 800-year history. ‘North West Cambridge’, an urban extension to the city of Cambridge, will be a sustainable, high quality development that aims to cultivate a mixed academic and urban community. Read more
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Press Release: Contemporary Art Society Awarded Major Funding by Arts Council England Strategic Support Fund

The Contemporary Art Society is delighted to announce that Arts Council England (ACE) has awarded a grant of £211,000 to support three curatorial fellows to work on a series of displays at the Whitechapel Gallery. The displays will be accompanied by a touring exhibition, related talks and events, and a publication of essays by each curatorial fellow. Read more
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April 2013

CAS Recommends eight public or non-profit exhibitions in the UK this April. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice – Pedro Reyes at Lisson Gallery

Pedro Reyes has taken hundreds of guns seized by the government in the city of Ciudad Juarez in the North of Mexico, and transformed them into sculptural musical instruments that are installed throughout the gallery, alongside collages where machines of war and musical instruments are combined. Read more
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Rose Wylie

As part of our continuing Artist to Watch series we are pleased to introduce you this month to the practice of artist Rose Wylie. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice – Lynette Yiadom-Boakye at Corvi-Mora

Lynette Yiadom Boakye is a British artist of Ghanaian descent living and working in London who creates un-heroic portraits of sitters and figures in landscapes – mostly dark skinned – drawing on the compositional and painterly conventions of nineteenth and twentieth century Western portraiture. Read more
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60 Seconds with our PROJECTS Artists – PROJECT 01: Stephen Nelson

The Contemporary Art Society spoke to Stephen Nelson about his installation of works at the Contemporary Art Society from 11 January - 28 March 2013. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice – Eddie Peake at White Cube

Eddie Peake is an artist who has become fashionable over the past couple of years – despite still being a student at the Royal Academy Schools - for a multi-faceted practice that ranges across photography, painting, neon sculpture and performance. Read more
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The Contemporary Art Society raises over £240,000 at Annual Gala

We are delighted to announce that the Contemporary Art Society’s 2013 Annual Fundraising gala – WANDERLUST, sponsored by Boucheron – held last Wednesday evening was a huge success! Read more
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Hobson’s Choice – Jeff Keen at Kate MacGarry

May I urge you all to go and see the new exhibition that has just opened at Kate MacGarry gallery, which provides the opportunity to become acquainted with one of the most significant - and underappreciated - British artist-filmmakers of the post-war period, Jeff Keen, who sadly died last year. Read more
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Shezad Dawood Limited Editions still available

Lot #16 Wanderlust Artist’s Edition Silent Auction Shezad Dawood, A Mystery Play – Tarot Deck 2010 – 13 Box of 79 cards, 11 × 11.5 cm Edition 100 + 3AP

A Mystery Play originally commissioned by Plug In ICA, Read more

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Hobson’s Choice – Richard Prince at Sadie Coles

This is a great show which offers much food for thought, not least of all of the enduring relevance of the representation of the female form in art and society – but visit soon, as the show closes in a week! Read more
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Sarah Pickstone

As part of our continuing Artist to Watch series we are pleased to introduce you this month to the practice of British artist Sarah Pickstone. Read more
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March 2013

CAS Recommends eight public or non-profit exhibitions in the UK this March. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice – Paul Chiappe at Carslaw St* Lukes

Paul Chiappe’s meticulous drawings are so painstakingly produced it has taken him more than a year to produce the eight small drawings that are currently on display at Carslaw St* Lukes. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice – Anna Parkina at Wilkinson Gallery

Young Russian artist Anna Parkina has attracted international critical attention for her collages which mix photography, drawing and text and usually incorporate bold geometric forms and colours. Read more
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The Contemporary Art Society are working with Southwark Council to oversee the commission of a new artwork for Dulwich Park.

The Contemporary Art Society are working with Southwark Council to oversee the commission of a new artwork for Dulwich Park following the theft of the Barbara Hepworth sculpture from the park in 2011. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice – Peles Empire, FORMATION, at Cell Project Space

Cell Project Space is currently showing a striking new body of work by Peles Empire. Founded in 2005, Peles Empire is a collaboration by Katharina Stoever and Barbara Wolff. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice – Fiona Rae at Timothy Taylor Gallery

Fiona Rae’s new paintings at Timothy Taylor are well worth a visit if you have not yet been. To my mind, some of the strongest work in recent years by a highly influential painter. Read more
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Press Release: Contemporary Art Society launches high-profile fundraising gala 2013

7 February 2013

Theme: WANDERLUST What: Fundraising gala and auction When: Wednesday 13 March 2013, from 6.30pm Where: Old Vic Tunnels, Leake Street, London SE1 7NN Sponsored by: Boucheron

Press Preview: There will be Read more

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Ed Atkins

As part of our continuing Artist to Watch series, we are pleased to introduce you this month to the practice of British artist, Ed Atkins. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice – John Kørner at Victoria Miro Gallery

Victoria Miro gallery is currently showing an exhibition of new works by the Danish artist John Kørner, called Fallen Fruit From Frisland. Read more
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February 2013

CAS Recommends ten public or non-profit exhibitions in the UK this February Read more
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Hobson’s Choice – Nicholas Byrne at Vilma Gold

Opening tonight at Vilma Gold in Bethnal Green is the second solo exhibition at the gallery of new paintings by young British artist Nicholas Byrne, whose work I absolutely love! Read more
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Press Release: Shortlisted artists announced for new Dulwich Park commission

31 January 2013

The commissioning process for the new sculpture for Dulwich Park has gained momentum with the announcement of the four shortlisted artists.

Recent winner of the prestigious Zurich Art Prize, Ryan Gander; Turner Prize nominee Read more

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Hobson’s Choice – James Lee Byars at Michael Werner Gallery

Michael Werner Gallery in Mayfair has just opened a stunning exhibition of important works by the late American artist James Lee Byars, entitled Early Works & The Angel. Read more
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January 2013

CAS Recommends ten public or non-profit exhibitions in the UK. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice – Sachin Kaeley at Seventeen Gallery

My new year has begun with an encounter with the interesting paintings of recent RCA graduate, Sachin Kaeley. Read more
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Alice Channer

As part of our continuing Artist to Watch series, we are pleased to introduce you this month to the practice of British artist, Alice Channer. Read more
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Press Release: Contemporary Art Society announces new public-facing role from January 2013

9 January 2013

The Contemporary Art Society is proud to announce a new public space and programme of displays, talks and events, beginning in January with displays of work by Stephen Nelson and  Read more

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Hobson’s Choice – John Skoog at Pilar Corrias Gallery

John Skoog is a young Swedish artist based in Frankfurt who is currently showing two moving image works at Pilar Corrias Gallery just north of Oxford Street. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice – Madge Gill & Paul Johnson at the Nunnery Gallery

Paul Johnson is currently showing a very nice body of works at the Nunnery Gallery, Bow Arts Trust in response to materials held in the London Borough of Newham’s Heritage and Archive Service by artist Madge Gill (1882 – 1961). Read more
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CAS Recommends – December 2012

CAS Recommends ten public or non-profit exhibitions in the UK Read more
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Hobson’s Choice – Josiah McElheny, Interactions of the Abstract Body, at White Cube

Visiting galleries with some friends last weekend, we enjoyed an interesting show at White Cube Mason’s Yard in St James by American artist, Josiah McElheny. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice – Bernd Ribbeck at Alison Jacques Gallery

Alison Jacques gallery in Fitzrovia is currently showing a very nice group of new works by German artist, Bernd Ribbeck. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Alexandra Bircken at Herald St, London

Alexandra Bircken is an artist who has attracted interest for her sculptures and installations that combine knitted elements with organic and lowly materials. Read more
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Press Release: Rising star Oliver Laric scoops Contemporary Art Society’s prestigious £60,000 Annual Award 2012 with The Collection and Usher Gallery, Lincoln

The Contemporary Art Society is delighted to announce that this year’s Annual Award, Commission to Collect, which offers one of the largest sums of money of any contemporary art prize in the UK, has been awarded to The Collection and Usher Gallery, Lincoln, with artist Oliver Laric. Laric saw off strong competition from emerging artists Juliette Blightman and Alice Channer to secure the career-changing award. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Chris Hipkiss, L.I.E.S., at Ancient & Modern

Chris Hipkiss produced extraordinary figurative drawings ranging in size from miniatures to expansive panoramas. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Kiki Smith, Behold, at Timothy Taylor Gallery

Kiki Smith is best known for her symbolic depictions of the human form through which she explores ideas from natural science through to cosmology and mythology. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Young London at V22, London

This show is simply a 'must see' for anyone interested in the next generation of artists working here in London! Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Michael Dean, thoughts, at Cubitt Gallery

For those of you suffering from visual fatigue after Frieze and FIAC, may I recommend you visit Michael Dean’s minimal exhibition at Cubitt in Islington as a way of cleansing your weary eyes. Read more
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Press Release: Philanthropists gift outstanding modern and contemporary collection totalling £4 million to UK museums through the Contemporary Art Society

The Contemporary Art Society is delighted to announce one of the most important philanthropic donations in its 100 year history, which will benefit public collections across the UK for generations to come. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: David Brian Smith, Goodwill and The Unknown Man, at Carl Freedman Gallery

Smith is a young British painter who currently has a solo show at Freedman’s new gallery space in Hoxton. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Clare Woods, The Bad Neighbour, at Modern Art

Woods is a painter whom I much admire and I know many of you do too. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Thomas Houseago at Hauser & Wirth London

It has been hard to miss the somewhat meteoric rise of Thomas Houseago in recent years. Read more
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Announcing the shortlist for the Annual Award for Museums 2012

The Annual Award Museums shortlist for 2012 - The Collection and Usher Gallery, Lincoln with artist Oliver Laric - Leeds Art Gallery with artist Alice Channer - Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery with Kettle's Yard with artist Juliette Blightman The winner of this year's Annual Award will be announced at the Annual Award Reception held on 19 November 2012. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: G L Brierley at CARSLAW St* Lukes

G L Brierley is an intriguing young British painter who creates domestic scale and larger works that overtly allude to the history of painting. Read more
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Lindsay Seers

Our Artist to Watch for October is British artist, Lindsay Seers. Her critically acclaimed commission by Artangel, Nowhere Less Now, is currently showing at the Tin Tabenacle in London until 21 October 2012. Read more
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Press Release: Contemporary Art Society moves into new home designed by Carmody Groarke

August 2012

 

The Contemporary Art Society is delighted to announce that it has appointed award-winning architects Carmody Groarke to design its new home in Clerkenwell, London which will open in October 2012.  In addition to accommodating its Read more

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Michael Stanley (1975-2012)

The Contemporary Art Society is tremendously saddened to hear the news of the premature death of Michael Stanley at the age of 37. Michael was one of our most talented and inspirational young gallery directors and he served on Read more

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Please note our new address

The Contemporary Art Society has moved. We are now at 59 Central Street, London EC1V 3AF. T. +44 (0)20 7017 8400. Read more
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Jess Flood-Paddock

Our Artist To Watch for September is young British artist, Jess Flood Paddock who has a solo show at Tate Britain opening on 17 September 2012 Read more
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September 2012

CAS Recommends ten public or non-profit exhibitions in the UK Read more
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Recent Gifts, Acquisitions and Bequests: August 2012

Mary Redmond, commissioned for Paisley Museum & Art Galleries, and Laure Prouvost, acquired for Whitworth Art Gallery, The University of Manchester. Read more
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25% Summer Offer

Well it hasn't exactly been a glorious summer of sunshine but to brighten it up a little bit the Contemporary Art Society are running a 25% Summer Offer Read more
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Nathaniel Mellors

Our Artist To Watch for August is British artist, Nathaniel Mellors, recently shortlisted for the prestigious Jarman Award 2012 Read more
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August 2012

CAS Recommends ten public or non-profit exhibitions in the UK Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Sarah Sze at Victoria Miro

I have been an admirer of the work of American artist, Sarah Sze since I first became aware of her work at the end of the 1990s Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Mary Redmond at Bold Tendencies 6

I strongly recommend that you make the journey to this quite uniquely ambitious programme Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Elizabeth McAlpine at Laura Bartlett Gallery

Laura Bartlett Gallery in Bloomsbury has just opened a new exhibition of works by British artist Elizabeth McAlpine Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Tom Lovelace at Son Gallery

Work Starts Here, Tom Lovelace's second solo show at Son Gallery in Peckham is a highly resolved exhibition Read more
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July 2012

CAS Recommends ten public or non-profit exhibitions in the UK Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Tom Gidley at Paradise Row

Tom Gidley’s current exhibition at Paradise Row is immediately engaging. Read more
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Opening at the Hepworth Wakefield, Luke Fowler’s new work – The Poor Stockinger, The Luddite Cropper and the Deluded Followers of Joanna Southcott

In 2010 The Hepworth Wakefield, Wolverhampton Art Gallery and Film and Video Umbrella were awarded the Contemporary Art Society Annual Award for Museums: commission to collect for their proposal to work with artist Luke Fowler. The resulting work by Fowler, The Poor Stockinger, The Luddite Cropper and the Deluded Followers of Joanna Southcott, will open to the public for the first time at the Hepworth Wakefield on 23 June. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: David Altmejd at Modern Art

Occasionally you see some really distinctive and arresting work and for me, David Altmejd’s new sculptures at Modern Art are just that! Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Helen Kincaid, Figurines And Asteroids at John Jones

Some of you may not know that the framer John Jones has a small gallery space at their premises in North London. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Sara VanDerBeek at The Approach

The approach in Bethnal Green has just opened an elegantly staged new show by American artist Sara VanDerBeek Read more
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June 2012

CAS Recommends ten public or non-profit exhibitions in the UK Read more
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An invitation to debate – Instituted by Artists

Part three of The New Economy of Art series, an open debate looking at how artists use and abuse institutional structures in their own practice. Read more
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Recent Gifts, Acquisitions and Bequests

Elizabeth Price for Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh and Phyllida Barlow for Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery Read more
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Contemporary Art Society Consultancy News: May 2012

We are delighted to announce the completion of two major artworks by Clare Woods and DJ Simpson for the Olympic Park. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Robert Holyhead at PEER

Once again, I find myself recommending a new exhibition that has recently opened at Peer in Hoxton Street Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Rachel Goodyear at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery

I have been an admirer of the work of British artist, Rachel Goodyear for several years now. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Phil Illingworth, Frightening Albert at WW Gallery, Hatton Garden

WW Gallery has recently opened a new space in a former jewellery workshop in the heart of the historic jewellery quarter, Hatton Garden Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Elizabeth Price at MOT International

Elizabeth Price’s new video ‘The Woolworths Choir of 1979’ is immediately absorbing. Read more
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A buyer’s guide to degree shows

Contemporary Art Society's Mark Doyle and Rebecca Morrill have contributed the article 'A buyer's guide to degree shows' for a-n Magazine's Degree Shows Guide 2012. Read more
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News: Turner Prize 2012 Shortlist Announced

The Contemporary Art Society would like to congratulate this year’s nominees for the Turner Prize Read more
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May 2012

CAS Recommends ten public or non-profit exhibitions in the UK Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Ben Rivers at Kate MacGarry

Rivers has a long-term, almost anthropological interest in those who live in isolated locations Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Thomas Demand at Spruth Magers

Acclaimed German artist Thomas Demand is best known for his photographs of meticulously recreated places, public and private spaces Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Stuart Brisley at PEER

For those disbelievers who need evidence that art can sometimes be a form of magic, you should pop into the current show at PEER Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Kura Shomali at Jack Bell Gallery

Jack Bell Gallery has a great programme focused on artists across the world but with a strong commitment to contemporary African artists. Read more
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Contemporary Art Society’s Latest Consultancy Projects, Spring 2012

Aspen Online Collection goes Live! Contemporary Art Society’s consultancy team have been developing Aspen’s contemporary art collection globally over the past four years. Now audiences everywhere can gain an insight into the art through a newly developed collection website launched in early March. To see the Head of Consultancy Fabienne Nicholas talking about the collection, and to see this fantastic online showcase visit: www.aspenart.co Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Ximena Garrido-Lecca at Max Wigram

Ximena Garrido-Lecca is a young Peruvian artist now living and working in London. Read more
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April 2012

CAS Recommends ten public or non-profit exhibitions in the UK Read more
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Laure Prouvost

Artist Laure Provost is primarily interested in translation, misinterpretation and linguistic misdirection. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Harm van den Dorpel at Wilkinson

There is a beautiful exhibition upstairs at Wilkinson’s by Dutch artist Harm van den Dorpel, whose work I especially admire. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Antiquity Bonk at The Sunday Painter

The Sunday Painter is an artist-led gallery and studio complex in Peckham set up in 2008 Read more
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Recent Gifts, Acquisitions and Bequests

Eva Rothschild for the Hepworth Wakefield and Elizabeth Magill for Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens Read more
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Recent Gifts, Acquisitions and Bequests

Andrew Kerr for the Hunterian Museum & Art Gallery, University of Glasgow and Keith Vaughn to collections across the UK Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Gabriel Kuri at Sadie Coles

Gabriel Kuri is a Mexican artist who has attracted international critical acclaim for his work exploring the nature and possibilities of sculpture. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Karla Black at Modern Art

Karla Black is well known for her instantly recognisable large-scale sculptural installations Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Andy Holden at Cubitt

Andy Holden has attracted critical attention for an introspective and encyclopaedic practice Read more
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The Contemporary Art Society raises over £270,000 at Annual Gala

Last night the Contemporary Art Society, in association with Boucheron, hosted another triumphant fundraising gala – LEAP! - to raise funds for its mission to buy contemporary art for museums across the UK. The evening event raised over £270,000 through its auction, an increase on last year’s figure of £240,000. More than 40 internationally acclaimed artists – from Jim Lambie and Paul Noble through to Paula Rego and Bob and Roberta Smith – and newer talents, were commissioned to create new works for a circus-inspired auction, conducted by Sotheby’s Olly Barker. Read more
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CAS Recommends: February – March 2012

CAS Recommends ten public or non-profit exhibitions in the UK Read more
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Elizabeth Price

The work of Elizabeth Price constructs a universe in which humans are known only by the objects they leave behind. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Saskia Olde Wolbers

Pareidolia refers to the tendency in human perception to discover meaning in random structures Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Renee So at Kate MacGarry

There is something very human about Renee So’s collection of works. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Paloma Varge Weisz at Sadie Coles

Walking through Sadie Coles's gallery in New Burlington Place is like entering an illustrated fairy-tale Read more
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A Private Affair – Personal Collections of Contemporary Art

A Private Affair is an exhibition at Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston that showcases contemporary artworks owned by private collectors from the North of England and curated in collaboration with Mark Doyle and Rebecca Morrill of the Contemporary Art Society. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Catherine Yass at Alison Jacques

Internationally acclaimed British artist Catherine Yass was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2002 for her highly distinctive practice. Read more
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Christina Mackie

We are delighted to announce an exciting new benefit for Contemporary Art Society members. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Caroline Achaintre at Arcade

Arcade has just opened its second exhibition by Caroline Achaintre with the wonderfully onomatopoeic title 'Trip-Dip'. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Selma Makela at PEER

I have been an admirer of the work of Selma Makela since her last show at PEER in 2008 Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Anselm Kiefer at White Cube, Bermondsey

The sheer scale of the new Anselm Kiefer exhibition will knock you sideways. Read more
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December 2011 – January 2012

CAS Recommends ten public or non-profit exhibitions in the UK Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Mhairi Vari at Domobaal

If you have a chance before the Christmas break, do swing by the new exhibition at DOMOBAAL Read more
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Contemporary Art Society’s Latest Consultancy Projects

Sneinton Market, Nottingham Our work with Nottingham City Council and Patel Taylor architects led to the appointment of Neville Gabie as lead artist on the regeneration of Sneinton Market Square. The resulting commission Orchard launches in December 2011. Championing the market’s long history as a centre for food production Orchard celebrates the planting of apple trees in the square and more widely as part of the artist’s Apple Tree Adoption Scheme. The project is launched with an event programme on the 9th, 10th and 11th December featuring renowned artists, writers and experts on urban food growing exploring the theme of the Orchard through commissions, exhibitions, screenings, and artist market, feast and symposium. For more details on the programme of events and to book at place on the Symposium click here. Read more
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Recent Acquisitions, Gifts and Bequests

Kerry Tribe, The Last Soviet, acquired for the Imperial War Museum, London and John Smith, The Black Tower acquired for the Ferens Art Gallery, Hull Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Gert and Uwe Tobias at Maureen Paley

The new show at Maureen Paley is the first solo presentation in London of the work of the much admired Romanian twin artists, Gert and Uwe Tobias. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Catherine Opie at Stephen Friedman

Stephen Friedman Gallery has just opened a new exhibition of early and current work by Catherine Opie Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Tomma Abts at greengrassi

Tomma Abts won the Turner Prize in 2006 – one of just a handful of painters in its long history Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Paul Noble at Gagosian, Britannia Street

Paul Noble is well known for his painstakingly detailed pencil drawings of his imaginary metropolis - Nobson Newtown Read more
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Available Now: 100 YEARS OF THE CONTEMPORARY ART SOCIETY – WHAT’S NEXT? INSIDE PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

The Contemporary Art Society launch their centenary publication 100 YEARS OF THE CONTEMPORARY ART SOCIETY - WHAT'S NEXT? INSIDE PUBLIC COLLECTIONS at the Contemporary Art Society's Annual Award for Museums 2011. Read more
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Contemporary Art Society’s Latest Consultancy Projects

Consultancy in New York... Inspired by the dynamism of this great city we have curated an important new collection of contemporary work for Aspen’s Madison Avenue office. The collection features painting, video and photography from acclaimed mid-career artists alongside newly discovered work from the art stars of the future. Artists include Ryan McGinley, Mark Dion, Hope Gangloff and Taryn Simon, who has a spectacular exhibition currently at the Tate Modern. Aspen’s corporate collection provides a creative perspective on the world. Held in offices across the globe, in each country the collection represents work from artists living and working in the region. In this way Aspen creates sustainable connections to the local arts ecology – and reflects the unique character of place within the office environment. We are currently working with Aspen on works for their new offices in New Jersey, San Francisco and Zurich. View a selection of the works held in the collecton here. Read more
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Artist Cornelia Parker to present the Contemporary Art Society’s Annual Award

The Contemporary Art Society has announced that, the Annual Award, commission to collect will be presented by one of the UK’s most significant artists Cornelia Parker. The reception for the Award will take place in London on 14th November. The winning museum will be awarded £60,000, a generous fund made possible thanks to the Sfumato Foundation, this will enable the winner to work closely with an artist to commission a new work that will, once completed, become part of the permanent collection. This is the largest fund of its type and provides a much needed investment in new art for public collections, as a legacy for the future. Cornelia Parker, who is famed for her beautiful and thought provoking sculptures and most recently for her inspired selection of works from the Government Collection currently showing at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, will present the prize at a ceremony at the German Gymnasium, a hidden architectural gem in the heart of London’s busy Kings Cross area. The winner will have been chosen by a selection panel from an initial long list of 22 and then a shortlist of five museums from across the country. Each shortlisted museum has, over the last 3 months, been developing a detailed proposal with the artist that they have chosen to work with. Having invested so much time and expectation all involved feel that there is much at stake as the panel make their final decision. The Contemporary Art Society Announces the Shortlist for the Annual Award for Museums 2011. The winning museum will receive £60,000 to commission an artist to make a new work for their public collection, generously supported by the Sfumato Foundation. The Shortlist for 2011: • National Museum Wales (Cardiff) with Artes Mundi - Proposal with artist Andrea Büttner • Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery - Proposal with artist Christina Mackie • Shipley Art Gallery - Proposal with artist Matthew Darbyshire • Walker Art Gallery, National Museums Liverpool - Proposal with artist Wael Shawky • University of Warwick Art Collection - Proposal with artist Katie Paterson The Selection Panel includes:- Adam Chodzko (Artist), Maurice Davies (Head of Policy, Museums Association), Rosy Greenlees (Director, Crafts Council), Michael Stanley (Director, Modern Art Oxford). Read more
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Announcing the Shortlist for the Annual Award for Museums 2011

The Contemporary Art Society Announces the Shortlist for the Annual Award for Museums 2011. The winning museum will receive £60,000 to commission an artist to make a new work for their public collection, generously supported by the Sfumato Foundation. Read more
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Announcing the winners of the Contemporary Art Society Annual Award, commission to collect, 2010

The winners are The Hepworth Wakefield and Wolverhampton Art Gallery in association with Film and Video Umbrella for their proposal with artist Luke Fowler. The award of £60,000 was presented on Tuesday 9 November and will enable the two museums to commission Luke Fowler to make a new work that will be acquired jointly for their collections. Film and Video Umbrella will provide invaluable expertise and support for the production process. Selectors for 2010 were

- Pavel Buchler, Artist & Research Profession in Art and Design at Manchester Metropolitan University

- Lisa Panting, Director of Picture This

- Caroline Douglas, Head of The Arts Council Collection

- Emily Wardill, Artist
The Award has been made possible through the generous philanthropy of the Sfumato Foundation. Read more
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Contemporary Art Society announces the shortlist for the Annual Award for Museums 2010

The following four museums have been shortlisted to potentially receive £60,000 to commission a new work for their collection. Read more
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Recent Acquisitions, Gifts and Bequests

Co-acquired for five national museums and galleries Read more
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Recent Acquisitions, Gifts and Bequests

Eric and Jean Cass have dedicated over 35 years of their lives to supporting artists Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: POINT.LINE.PLANE at Hannah Barry Gallery, Peckham

POINT. LINE. PLANE at Hannah Barry’s Peckham gallery is a fresh and robust group exhibition Read more
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Eva Rothschild purchase for The Hepworth Wakefield

The Contemporary Art Society is delighted to have recently purchased Wandering Palm 2011 by Eva Rothschild in partnership with The Art Fund. This work will be gifted to The Hepworth Wakefield and become part of their permanent collection. Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Transcendental Empiricism at Rob Tufnell

For those of you yet to make a visit, freelance curator and gallerist Rob Tufnell has just opened a new gallery Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Robert Fry at Mews42 Gallery

May I strongly recommend you take a look at the work of Robert Fry Read more
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Hobson’s Choice: Frieze Art Fair in Regent’s Park

The must visit exhibition of this week is, of course, Frieze Art Fair. Read more
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New Contemporary Art Society Trustee Cathy Wills

We are delighted to announce the appointment of a new Trustee to the Contemporary Art Society. Read more
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November 2011

CAS Recommends ten public or non-profit exhibitions in the UK. Read more
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October 2011

CAS Recommends ten public and non-profit exhibitions in the UK Read more
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Announcing the Shortlist for the Annual Award for Museums 2011

Shortlist for the Contemporary Art Society's Annual Award for Museums 2011. Read more
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Artist Film: Phoebe Unwin

Artist Phoebe Unwin introduces her work. Read more
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August 2011

CAS Recommends ten public or non-profit exhibitions in the UK Read more
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September 2011

CAS Recommends ten public or non-profit exhibitions in the UK Read more
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Changes to Membership of Contemporary Art Society

Important changes at the Contemporary Art Society Read more
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How to Collect – Art Market Update Autumn 2011

Insight in to the art market following Summer 2011 Read more
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New Contemporary Art Society Trustee Zach Leonard

We are delighted to announce the appointment of a new Trustee to the Contemporary Art Society. Read more
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An Opportunity for Two Graduate Curators (2012-2013)

Starting Point is a new annual opportunity open to recent graduate curators to work with public collections of modern and contemporary art. Read more
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Congratulations to the Contemporary Art Society Chair of Trustees, Mark Stephens CBE

The Contemporary Art Society congratulates it Chair of Trustees, Mark Stephens on his recent CBE, awarded for services to the Legal Profession and the Arts in the Queen's Birthday Honours.
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Complimentary Passes to Olympia

Complimentary Passes to Olympia are available to all Contemporary Art Society Members. To request a pass email the Contemporary Art Society membership@contemporaryartsociety.org or call 020 7831 3219. For further information on the fair go to www.olympia-art-antiques.com
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The Contemporary Art Society Annual Award for Museums 2011 – £60,000 to commission to collect

The aim of the Contemporary Art Society’s Annual Award is to support museums to commission new work that will remain within the museum’s permanent collection. In offering this significant investment the Contemporary Art Society wishes to reflect how vital it is for museums to gain the greatest proximity to artists and the development of their practice. Read more
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Arts Council England Increases Investment in the Contemporary Art Society

The Contemporary Art Society is delighted to have received a 93% increase in core funding from Arts Council England as part of the new National Portfolio announced today. Read more
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The Contemporary Art Society Annual Fundraiser generates £240,000 in support of new purchase of contemporary art for museums across the UK

Each year, the Contemporary Art Society organises an annual fundraising event in support of its mission to build public collections of contemporary art in the UK. Read more
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In Focus — Collecting Contemporary Photography – book your place now

Hosted by the National Media Museum, members are invited to join us for this fantastic opportunity to learn more about the main developments in photography over the last 30 years, gain an insight into the collecting strategies of private and public collectors, and get the inside track on emerging talent. Read more
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Three Stones in the City of Ladies, curated by Elisa Kay

Private View: Friday 21 January 2011, 17.30-20.00 Three Stones in the City of Ladies* is a group exhibition about repetition and looking back. The works in the show are gathered around a painting from the Nottingham City Museums and Gallerie’s collection; a surrealist landscape called Three Stones by Marion Adnams (1898 – 1995). Adnams was born in Derby and lived most of her life in the city. Although she achieved some success in her lifetime, her work is not widely known and so this exhibition, which includes loans from Derby Museum and Art Gallery, hopes to contribute to a history of her work. Read more
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National Network Annual Conference: The Making of Things

We are delighted that such a range of curators and artists have agreed to contribute to our National Network Annual Conference 2011.

The ornate interior of the Victoria Art Gallery & Museum, designed by architect Alfred Waterhouse whose other Read more

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New Purchases for Aspen Zurich

Furthering our work with the Aspen contemporary art collection in London, the Contemporary Art Society has curated a collection of mainly Swiss artists for their new Zurich offices.

Supporting up and coming artists is one of the features of Read more

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Collection for Aspen’s Singapore office

Contemporary Art Society Consultancy is currently working with Aspen to extend their collection to their new Singapore office.
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10% discount for members with Cornerhouse Publications

Cornerhouse Publications provides a specialist sales and distribution service for many of the most innovative publishers, galleries and museums working in contemporary visual arts. Read more
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Is There Anybody Out There? A snapshot of Collectors of Contemporary Art in the North

Corridor8 recently invited Contemporary Art Society's Mark Doyle, Head of Collector Development, North West, to profile seven collectors from the wealthy professional to the aspiring collector of ordinary means. To read an extract from the article please click here (pdf) Read more
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Contemporary Art Society announces new Chair

The Contemporary Art Society is delighted to announce that Mark Stephens has been appointed as the new Chair of the Contemporary Art Society (CAS) to replace Alison Myners. Mark joined the Board of the Contemporary Art Society in 1991 and was Alison's Vice Chair. Mark has been a long and committed advocate of the work of the CAS and its mission to develop public collections of contemporary art in the UK for almost twenty years. Read more
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North East Members’ Prize Draw – Win an original artwork by Paul Noble

To celebrate the launch of the new Contemporary Art Society, North East membership programme, we are delighted to announce that Paul Noble has generously donated an original drawing to be offered in a Prize Draw for the first 50 members to join the new North East membership scheme*. Read more
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Limited Edition Print by Nous Vous

New members who join Blood, North East or North West membership will receive a limited edition screenprint Meeting by Nous Vous, who exhibited in the Rotate programme held at the Contemporary Art Society offices (26 January - 2 April 2010). Read more
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Circle Hospital, Bath – new loan collection

CAS Consultancy has recently curated a loan collection for the newly opened Circle Hospital in Bath.
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Contemporary Art Society and The Henry Moore Foundation present large-scale sculptures by Alison Wilding to UK museum collections.

The Contemporary Art Society and The Henry Moore Foundation are pleased to announce that eight sculptures by British sculptor Alison Wilding have been presented, through the generosity of an anonymous private donor, to UK public collections including The Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester; Arts Council Collection; Tate; Manchester Art Gallery and Leeds City Art Gallery. Read more
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Bury Art Gallery purchase Rachel Goodyear’s ‘Fawn with Hand’

Bury Art Gallery have purchased Rachel Goodyear's Fawn with Hand from Rotate, the new Contemporary Art Society exhibition programme based at our Emerald Street offices, showcasing the work of artists, artist-run spaces and galleries who are attracting critical interest and acclaim nationally and internationally. Read more
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Contemporary Art Society Consultancy Celebrates Two Award Nominations

The Contemporary Art Society is delighted to announce two recent nominations for their Consultancy Services, recognising our continuing success in bringing the best of contemporary art to our clients and partners. Read more
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