Mark Leckey's 'Dream English Kid 1964 – 1999 AD' acquired for Tate

A chance YouTube discovery of a 1979 Joy Division concert in a club in Liverpool, which he in fact attended as a teenager, inspired Leckey to make this new acquisition by CAS, Dream English Kid 1964 – 1999 AD. Here Leckey is concerned with the under-represented or overlooked aspects of British culture, exploring ideas about both collective and personal history, desire and transformation, consequently constructing a history of ‘found memories’, focusing on key episodes in his own life from 1964-1999.

The artist’s interest in the power of images and objects is reflected in recurring motifs such as a pylon, which represents his interest in animism and the peculiar qualities of everyday objects. References to the moon and lunar eclipses indicate a fascination with the celestial and the ways in which we connect to the universe.

The acquisition significantly strengthens the representation of Leckey’s work within Tate’s collection. It provides the institution with the opportunity to show Dream English Kid 1964 – 1999 AD in a wide variety of contexts, both via its medium and via themes such as individual or collective memory, the use of found footage or digital/post-Internet issues.