Concrete and blood-red wax: British art in Kyiv

By Leigh Turner.

Published May 19, 2012 at 11:43 am

A feast of British art is heading for Kyiv.

First up is a major new exhibition of sculptorAnish Kapoor. Kapoor has beenone of my favourite artists since I saw his 1991Turner Prize-winning exhibit at the oldTate Gallery(this was before theTate Modernopened in 2000).

Kapoor also has a work, called “Turning the World Inside Out” inside the British Embassy in Berlin. I used to walk past it every day when I worked there from 1999-2002.

Kapoor’s exhibition at thePinchuk Art Centre in Kyivfrom 19 May to 30 September is his first solo exhibition in eastern Europe and contains, in addition to other existing and new works (“12 monumental concrete mounds”) 2009′s famous “Shooting into the Corner”, which fires red wax across a room.

The UK will also feature at theKyiv Contemporary Art Biennale ARSENALE 2012,running from 24 May to 31 July. The Biennale,as I’ve blogged before, has a British curator,David Elliott; a London-based PR company,Curzon PR; alogodesigned by British companyBarnbrook Design; and a theme taken from the Charles Dickens novel, “A Tale of Two Cities”.

The Biennale will feature ten UK-based artists:Dinos and Jake Chapman,Phyllida Barlow,Richard Deacon,Rachel Kneebone,Raqib Shaw,Ana Maria Pacheco,Shiraz Houshiary,Yinka Shonibare, ErginCavusogluandRichardGrayson.

The British Council is organizinga series of talkswith the Arsenale, starting on 24 May. The talks include JakeChapmanin conversation with David Elliott, and a Turner prize winner Richard Deacon.

Enjoy.

PS Anish Kapoor is also the creator of a new115-metre tall artworkat the London 2012 Olympic Park, entitled the ArcelorMittal Orbit. It opens in July. But you’ll have to visit London to see it.

Leigh Turner has been the British ambassador to Ukraine since June 2008. You can read all his blog entries atblogs.fco.gov.uk/roller/turnerenglish(in English) orblogs.fco.gov.uk/roller/turner/(Ukrainian)