Tate Britain today unveils the filters, a three-part installation by artist Christina Mackie (b. 1956). The work has been created for the annual Tate Britain Commission 2015, supported by Sotheby’s. The commission invites artists to make new work in response to the grand spaces of the Duveen Galleries at the heart of Tate Britain.
the filters is inspired by Mackie’s interest in colour and perception. The south Duveen Gallery is transformed by a composition of dipped silk nets suspended over pans of semi-crystallised dye, anchored to the floor by hand cast weights. This aerial network of ropes and colourful dyed silk is animated by the natural light that permeates the space. Alongside the nets, a vibrant yellow sculpture, suggestive of a scientific apparatus, is located in the central space of the Octagon. In the north Duveen Gallery, the installation is completed by a plinth displaying chunks of coloured cullet – raw glass sourced from a foundry.
Over the course of her career, Christina Mackie has produced a wide and varied body of work. She trained as a painter and her work has developed to span a range of media, including sculpture, watercolours, photographs, ceramics and found materials. In 2007, she made The Large Huts for the lawn outside Tate Britain and in 2005 she won Beck’s Futures at the ICA. Recent exhibitions include PRAXES, Berlin (2014), Colour drop, The Renaissance Society, Chicago (2014), Painting the Weights, Chisenhale Gallery, London and Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen (2012). the filters develops ideas set out in projects realised last year in Berlin and Chicago.
Penelope Curtis, Director, Tate Britain said: “Christina Mackie has long been interested in the exchange between the natural and man-made worlds as exemplified in pigment and paint; the rich historic collections surrounding the Duveen galleries have been magically reconfigured by her highly individual installation”.
Cheyenne Westphal, Sotheby’s Co-Head, Contemporary Art Worldwide, said: “Year on year, the Tate Britain Commission continues to captivate and surprise audiences. Christina Mackie’s ambitious installation will carry forward this tradition and we’re delighted to be able to provide support for the Commission for the seventh year”
The Tate Britain commission is curated by Clarrie Wallis, Curator, Modern and Contemporary British Art, Tate, and Isabella Maidment, Assistant Curator, Contemporary British Art, Tate.
Christina Mackie was born in Oxford in 1956. She studied at the Vancouver School of Art and St Martins College of Art, London. Recent solo exhibitions include: PRAXES, Berlin (2014); The Renaissance Society at The University of Chicago (2014); Nottingham Castle Museum, London (2013), Kunsthal Charlottenberg, Copenhagen (2012), and Chisenhale Gallery, London (2012). Mackie lives and works in London.
Her Tate Britain Commission is the latest in a series of contemporary commissions. Artists are invited to develop a new work in response to the Tate Britain’s neo-classical Duveen Galleries. Artists who have previously undertaken commissions include Phyllida Barlow (2014), Simon Starling (2013), Patrick Keiller (2012), Fiona Banner (2010), Eva Rothschild (2009), Martin Creed (2008), Mark Wallinger (2007), Michael Landy (2004), Anya Gallaccio (2002) and Mona Hatoum (2000).
Christina Mackie: the filters Tate Britain Commission Supported by Sotheby’s 24 March – 18 October 2015 Tate Britain, Duveen Galleries