Forgotten Camden Council collection exhibited for first time
Hockney, Hepworth or Frink? The choice is yours. The public are being asked to vote for their favourite works to be included in an exhibition at Swiss Cottage library in Camden. The works in question are all owned by Camden Council and include works by David Hockney, Barbara Hepworth, Elizabeth Frink, Patrick Heron, Edward Paolozzi, Patrick Caulfield, Derek Jarman, Prunella Clough and John Minton among others.
The library’s exhibition space will show a slideshow of all 99 works until Sunday, 12 February in conjunction with an on-line Flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/camdencouncil/sets/72157629010378281/ where you can place your vote. The winning works will be shown at the library from 16-26 February. The works are all being displayed anonymously, the idea being that you will vote for your favourite without being influenced by the big names.
This is a fascinating collection dating from the late 1950s to the late 1980s. Much of it was used to decorate town hall offices. Many of the artists lived and worked locally in Camden and the collection has been built up over many years with some works inherited when the council was established in 1965. Some of the art was purchased by the council from 1965-85, with funding from a small picture loan scheme and others as bequests from local residents. The Greater London Council also gave Camden a number of the items, with a link to the borough, when it was disbanded in 1986. The collection is impressive and it will be exciting for it to be dusted off and brought out of the archives for the first time in years.
Email your 20 favourite pictures to: lbc_artcollection@yahoo.com