The Lowry commissions Spencer Tunick mass nude installation in Salford/Manchester
The Lowry calls for ‘everyday people’ to participate in 10th birthday project
Salford and Manchester provide a backdrop for a new large-scale installation by international artist Spencer Tunick this May, using his favoured material - the nude human body.
The Lowry in Salford is marking ten years of creative excellence by commissioning New York-based Tunick to create an installation across eight locations in the two neighbouring cities on 1 and 2 May 2010.
Now the artist is looking for 1,000 volunteers to shed both their clothes and their inhibitions for his latest project with The Lowry. Volunteers can now register their interest in participating in the Spencer Tunick installation at www.thelowry.com/tunick
Volunteers will be taken, via a caravan of heated buses, to eight locations over the weekend of 1-2 May and asked to pose naked while Tunick creates the installation. The resulting photographic and film work will then be shown at The Lowry from 12 June – 26 September as part of the exhibition, Everyday People.
This particular installation with The Lowry represents a new departure for Tunick. The artist is renowned for site-specific landscapes in which he photographs hundreds or even thousands of nude volunteers, and previous installations have been staged in Sydney, Montreal, Melbourne, Santiago, Barcelona and Gateshead, featuring mass gatherings of nude participants posed in artistic formations within major urban landscapes.
In Salford and Manchester, however, Tunick will create his first ever multiple site installation, while the project itself is his first visual response to the work of another artist for the entirety of a project – the work of LS Lowry. Tunick will focus on the concept of ‘everyday people’ for the Salford and Manchester installation as a reference to the compositional style of LS Lowry, whose figurative works depict a mass of bodies going about their daily life. In contrast to his usual, static compositional style, Tunick will break new ground in his approach by capturing the movement of everyday people within each photograph.
Kate Farrell, The Lowry’s Curator of Special Exhibitions says: “This is a one-off chance to feature in an international artwork and to become part of a global network of Tunick participants.”
Michael Simpson, The Lowry’s Head of Visual Arts & Engagement says: “The Lowry commissions innovative, engaging and exciting contemporary art and is a key part of both the North West and UK visual art world. Tunick’s work not only reflects and records the landscape of an area but also its people. The Lowry has spent ten years delighting, engaging and challenging both local and national audiences with the very best in visual art and performance. This exhibition celebrates our achievements and signals our continuing ambition.”
Spencer Tunick explains, “Salford and Manchester presents an intriguing prospect for my latest UK installation based both on the rich industrial heritage that exists across both cities and the art of LS Lowry. LS Lowry's paintings depicting the mass of everyday people who contributed to the industrial machine of the 20th century, also provide an interesting frame of reference in terms of the compositional possibilities of the installations.”
Spencer Tunick’s temporary site-specific installations have been commissioned by the XXV Biennial de Sao Paulo, Brazil (2002); Institut Cultura, Barcelona (2003); The Saatchi Gallery (2003); MOCA Cleveland (2004) and the Vienna Kunsthalle (2008) among others.
The Lowry is delighted to present Everyday People with the generous support of Arts Council England Sustain fund.
Volunteers can register their interest in participating in the Spencer Tunick installation at www.thelowry.com/tunick. The exhibition, Everyday People, Spencer Tunick at The Lowry, takes place between Saturday 12 June – Sunday 26 September 2010. Free entry.
For further information, images and interview requests, please contact SKV Communications on 0161 838 7770. Contact Helen Partridge, Max Howard, Richard Bond or Andrew Spinoza email firstname.lastname@skvcommunications.co.uk
Posted on Monday, 08 March 2010 under Press Galleries Press