MY YARD is curated by Turner Prize winner Jeremy Deller, and Alan Kane. It is the third in a series of British Council Collection exhibitions at the newly restored Whitechapel Gallery in East London and forms part of the British Council's 75th Anniversary celebrations.
This exhibition sees Jeremy Deller and Alan Kane celebrating British people and places with their selection of urban landscapes from the British Council Collection. MY YARD examines Britain’s industrial history and urban realities as seen by artists throughout the 20th century.
 Deller and Kane talked to us about their take on the Collection and their exhibition:
‘This exhibition has ended up being about home. We had no plan to make another show about the UK but I suppose given the purpose and history of the British Council Collection and our separate enthusiasms, it was sort of always going to happen’, they said.
‘The subject may not be immediately recognisable though (especially to anyone born after 1970), as in the 1980s the UK got a sort of TV makeover – a lick of paint and some up-lighters etc. – but the works we are showing indicate a Britain just below the plasterboard of this ‘flip’ job, a draughty and slightly damp property with foundations that you feel connect it, back through mud and bones, to all you think of when you talk of British history. It is a very physical connection and it feels different from the connection we have to our more recent history, which we seem to be sort of observing like tourists.’
‘This feeling may be because our exposure to the kinds of works we are presenting was from before the explosion of communications of recent years, or it may just be a sign of ageing and a curmudgeonly disposition toward the less slick.’
‘In either case it is heartening that there is a forthright national collection of art, with the purpose of promoting British culture around the world that has the depth and spirit to show many versions of OUR YARD’, they said.
The selected works include Edward Wadsworth’s dynamic landscapes, which reflect the upheaval of industry and World War I, and L.S. Lowry’s painting of his native Manchester, Industrial City (1948). The Boyle Family find unexpected beauty in the built environment, while John Davies explores urban archaeologies in his photographic studies of Sheffield and Stockport. The folly of utopian town planning is parodied in Paul Noble’s fantastical city drawings.
Following on the heels of Michael Craig-Martin, Tim Marlow, Jeremy Deller, Alan Kane and Paula Rego, the final exhibition in this series will be the result of an international competition, which the British Council has organised to provide an opportunity for aspiring curators worldwide to select a display of works from its Collection. Find out more about the Fifth Curator competition on the British Council Collection website.
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