Lives Less Ordinary: Working-Class Britain Re-seen

Lives Less Ordinary,Two Temple Place

The exhibition explores the overlooked richness and diversity of working-class life and creative expression from the 1950s to now.

Challenging long-standing inequities and misrepresentation, this exhibition will present compelling assertions of pride, tenderness, resilience, humour and hopefulness, and moments of play, joy and rest. Looking beyond the often reductive narratives of crisis and struggle that traditionally characterise representation of working-class people and communities in British arts institutions, Lives Less Ordinary champions a gaze from within, from artists from working-class backgrounds who have used their creativity to reflect wide-ranging experiences and identities, depicting and defining their culture and communities on their own terms.

Lives Less Ordinary will bring together ceramics, film, painting, photography and sculpture from wide-ranging public collections, archives, and contemporary artists across the UK to explore a nuanced and authentic reflection of working-class experience within an architectural setting that both manifests and interrogates wealth and privilege.

Artists:

Pearl Alcock / Vanley Burke / Chila Kumari Singh Burman / Joanne Coates / Beryl Cook / Julie Cook / Connor Coulston / Creative Black Country / Leslie Duxbury / Joan Eardley / Feministo! / Martin Figura / Jimmy Floyd / Denzil Forrester / Sandra George / Julian Germain / Ken Grant / Derrick Greaves / Margaret Green / Bert Hardy / Chris Harrison / Mahtab Hussain / Izabela Jedrzejczyk / Jasleen Kaur / Neil Kenlock / Chris Killip / Sirkka Liisa Konttinen / Mark Leckey / Roman Manfredi / Masterji / Rene Matić / Tish Murtha / Kelly O’Brien / Hardeep Pandhal / Robert Parkinson / Hetain Patel / Charlie Phillips / Ceri Richards / Bob Robinson / Anne Ryan / Corbin Shaw / George Shaw / Jack Smith / Jo Spence / Hannah Starkey / Emilie Taylor / Ten 8 Ltd / Triple Transformations / Eric Tucker / Gavin Watson / Matthew Arthur Williams / Richard Young

Lead image: Rene Matić, Import & Export, Peckham, 2022, Inkjet Print © The Artist

Duration 25 January 2025 - 20 April 2025
Times Tuesday: 11am – 6pm Wednesday: 11am – 9pm Thursday: 11am – 6pm Friday: 11am – 6pm Saturday: 11am – 6pm Sunday: 11am – 4.30pm
Cost Free
Venue Two Temple Place
Address 2 Temple Place, London, WC2R 3DB
Contact 2078363715 / info@twotempleplace.org / https://twotempleplace.org

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