Overview
One of the world's most acclaimed galleries is coming to Aotearoa, and it's bringing more than 70 works that chronicle more than 200 years of art history with it.
For a five-month season from February, the UK's Tate will take over Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki with a hefty exhibition that'll span everything from painting, photography and sculpture through to drawing, kinetic art and installations and the moving image.
Given the time period covered by Light from Tate: 1700s to Now, the list of artists that'll be on display is a varied one — as drawn from pieces in the Tate's four separate sites in Britain.
John Brett, The British Channel Seen from the Dorsetshire Cliffs, 1871. Tate: Presented by Mrs Brett, 1902. Photo: Tate.
Art lovers will be able to see works by famed English romantic painter and watercolourist Joseph Mallord William Turner alongside the light- and space-focused efforts of American artist James Turrell, plus pieces by impressionist Claude Monet and Japanese favourite Yayoi Kusama.
Running from Saturday, February 25–Sunday, June 25, 2023, and presented as part of next year's Auckland Arts Festival, the unifying theme of the exhibition is light, as the name makes plain, and the way the theme has captivated artists across time and art form.
This includes interactive hanging sculpture and installations, like Olafur Eliasson's hanging crystalline sphere Stardust Particle from 2014. Kusama's characteristically kaleidoscopic 2005 sculpture The Passing Winter gets viewers peering into a mirrored cube, while Turrell's Raemar, Blue, from 1969, is an immersive spatial environment that surrounds visitors in infinite and immersive light.
John Constable, Branch Hill Pond, Hampstead Heath, with a Boy Sitting on a Bank, circa 1825, Tate: Bequeathed by Henry Vaughan 1900, Photo: Tate
It's not the first time Auckland Art Gallery has collaborated with the famed UK art gallery. The relationship dates back as far as the 1930s — most recently with The Body Laid Bare exhibition in 2017.
"We're excited to bring another rich and immersive offering from one of the world's greatest collections to Aotearoa New Zealand," says Auckland Art Gallery Director Kirsten Lacy
"Light from Tate: 1700s to Now is a sensational exhibition. Every space is a homage to the transformative power of light and to the artists who sought to harness and explore it. Throughout the exhibition, visitors will encounter a variety of ideas and theories and will experience the sensory and emotional impacts of light."
Other well-known international artists you can familiarise yourself with through the exhibition are Vilhelm Hammershøi who explores light in interior and domestic settings, Dan Flavin, Liliane Lijn, Tacita Dean, Pae White and many more.
Light from Tate: 1700s to Now opens at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki on Saturday, February 25 and runs until Sunday, June 25 2023. Tickets cost $24.50 for non-members, while members and children under 12 enter for free.
Top image: Olafur Eliasson, Stardust Particle, 2014. Tate: Presented by the artist in honour of Sir Nicholas Serota, 2018. Photo: Tate.