Spencer Tunick at The Lowry

After SKV’s brilliant splash in early March across all the mainstream national and regional media announcing the call for nude volunteers for The Lowry’s major new commission by Spencer Tunick, our art-focused campaign is well underway with a good response so far.  Some writers are even keen to get involved with what should be a really exhilarating experience on the day…

EVERYDAY PEOPLE: SPENCER TUNICK

12 June to 26 September 2010

The Lowry Galleries, Salford

Salford and Manchester provide the backdrop for a new large-scale installation by international artist Spencer Tunick this May, using his favoured material – the nude human body.

This particular installation has been commissioned for The Lowry‘s tenth anniversary. It represents a new departure for Spencer Tunick as he creates 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 – LS Lowry.

The resulting photographic and film work will be shown at The Lowry from 12 June – 26 September as part of the exhibition, Everyday People.

The Lowry in Salford is marking ten years of creative excellence by commissioning New York-based Spencer Tunick to create an installation across eight locations in the two neighbouring cities this May.

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, London, Montreal, Melbourne, Santiago, Barcelona and Gateshead, featuring mass gatherings of nude participants posed in formations within major urban landscapes.

With the challenge of choosing to create his work across multiple sites, Tunick will also 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 compositional style, he will break new ground in his approach by capturing the movement of everyday people within each photograph.

The exhibition will reveal Spencer Tunick’s unique photographs taken at each location, and an accompanying film will capture the essence of the installations across Salford and Manchester. The exhibition will also reference Tunick’s work within the broader context of artists working with the human body.

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 20^th century, also provide an interesting frame of reference in terms of the compositional possibilities of the installations.”

To illuminate Everyday People further, The Lowry has commissioned a series of critical essays around the work of Spencer Tunick, the first of which, by Sarah Kent, will be published at http://www.thelowry.com/spencertunick on 6 April.

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.

Editors Notes

The Lowry celebrates its 10th anniversary on 28 April 2010 and has spent 10 years delighting, engaging and challenging both local and national audiences with the very best in visual art and performance. The Lowry Centre Trust is a not-for-profit charitable organisation and registered charity (no. 1053962). All income supports our world-class Theatres and Galleries programme, the care and display of the LS Lowry Collection and our life-changing Community and Education work. The Lowry’s Chief Executive, Julia Fawcett was awarded an OBE for services to the Arts in the Queen’s 2010 New Year Honours list.