British Council Collection: The Third Dimension 27 June - 20 September 2009, Whitechapel Gallery

‘The Third Dimension’ charts some key developments in British sculpture since the 1960s. Throughout this period sculpture was one of the most contested and expansive of all art forms. The role of the British Council in supporting and establishing this tradition internationally has been critical, not only through the Collection but also through exhibitions and the stewardship of the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.

The exhibition takes as its starting point the works of Anthony Caro, whose rejection of the plinth and use of industrial materials and paint precipitated a radical re-thinking of the medium. A successive generation challenged the entire notion of sculpture as physical matter, emphasising instead processes, actions and ideas. They included Barry Flanagan, Richard Long and Bruce McLean.

The ‘New British Sculptors’ of the 1980s embraced urban detritus to explore notions of fabrication and transformation. Tony Cragg, Richard Deacon and Bill Woodrow created works with an emphatic physical presence that set up a three-way conversation between object, image and idea.

The last 20 years have been marked by a further expansion of sculpture into the fields of installation, performance, photography and film. Traditional processes like casting were used by Rachel Whiteread to memorialise the everyday, while a return to figuration destabilised form in works by Rebecca Warren among others. For artists like Jim Lambie and Michael Landy, an expanded range of materials acted as conveyors for the sounds and rhythms of urban and mass culture.

‘The Third Dimension’ is the second of five displays of works from the British Council Collection to be presented at the Whitechapel Gallery.  The third exhibition is to be curated by Jeremy Deller and Alan Kane. The fourth exhibition is curated by Paula Rego.

The fifth and final exhibition will be curated following an international search for ‘the Fifth Curator’. ‘The Fifth Curator’ competition is a unique opportunity for an aspiring curator to select an exhibition of works from the British Council Collection. We are looking for someone who is based permanently outside the UK, and who believes they have the passion and knowledge to be a leading curator. The winning curator will be given unlimited access to the Collection, which includes over 8500 key works of British art and the resulting exhibition will be shown at the Whitechapel Gallery in London from 27 March – 6 June 2010.

Tim Marlow, writer, broadcaster and cultural historian, is an Advisor to the British Council Collection and Director of Exhibitions, White Cube.

For more press information regarding the British Council please contact Eleanor Hutchins on 020 7389 4981 or eleanor.hutchins@britishcouncil.org

For more press information regarding the Whitechapel Gallery and exhibition please contact Rachel Mapplebeck on 020 7522 7880 or RachelMapplebeck@whitechapelgallery.org

Notes to editors:

• The British Council was founded in 1934 to promote a wider knowledge of the UK abroad, to promote the knowledge of the English language, and to develop closer cultural relations between the United Kingdom and other countries. The arts play a major role in international cultural relations, and for 75 years the Council has curated, organised and facilitated pioneering exhibitions of British art throughout the world. The full British Council Collection is now available to view online on our new collections website www.britishcouncil.org/collection

• The British Council Collection displays at the Whitechapel Gallery are organised by Diana Eccles, Head of Collection, The British Council Collection, and Andrea Tarsia, Head of Displays, Whitechapel Gallery.

• The British Council Collection spans the 20th Century and includes works by early modern  masters such Stanley Spencer, Wyndham Lewis, Paul Nash and Walter Sickert, Barbara Hepworth, Graham Sutherland, Henry Moore and Ben Nicholson. Post-war it includes, among others, artists from the School of London; painters from St Ives and from the Kitchen Sink groups; exponents of the New Generation in the 1960s; conceptual and experimental artists such as Gilbert & George and Richard Long; the New British Sculptors of the 1980s, including Tony Cragg, Richard Deacon, Antony Gormley and Anish Kapoor. Tracey Emin, Gary Hume, Damien Hirst, Mark Wallinger and Sarah Lucas are among the YBA generation represented and artists including Jeremy Deller, Douglas Gordon, Tomma Abts and Roger Hiorns bring the Collection up to the present day.

• The presentation of the British Council Collection at the Whitechapel Gallery is supported by specialist insurer Hiscox which has a long and established association with contemporary art and was one of the first UK insurers to offer art insurance as a stand-alone policy for private collectors, museums and galleries. Hiscox’s sponsorship of the Whitechapel Gallery’s presentation of great collections underlines its commitment to promoting and protecting the very best in modern and contemporary art.