Nocturnal Creatures
Whitechapel Gallery and local locations, Free Entry
Sponsored by Broadgate
In association with Sculpture in the City
#NocturnalCreatures
19 June 2018 – Nocturnal Creatures brings together performance, video, sculpture and sound in the heart of the East End for a new late-night contemporary arts festival on Saturday 21 July.
Cultural and historic venues within walking distance of the Whitechapel Gallery are transformed for one night by spectacular artworks and performance. Local galleries open their doors late into the night. In association with Sculpture in the City, artist tours and new audio compositions will celebrate the rich history of the local area.
Free to attend and accessible to all, highlights of the programme include:
An immersive audio-visual environment created by Tom Lock (b.1981, UK) to be staged with our headline sponsor, Broadgate
At Whitechapel Gallery, hourly performances of Alexis Teplin’s (b.1976, USA) mesmerising Arch (The Politics of Fragmentation) and Andrea Luka-Zimmerman’s (b.1976, USA) series of readings from 1968
Artist-led tours of artworks installed across the surrounding area for the 8th edition of Sculpture in the City including Amanda Lwin, Shaun C Badham and Jyll Bradley
The premiere of audio compositions created in response to East End sites, Sculpture in the City x Musicity to include Sarathy Korwar, Midori Komachi, Bambooman and Angele David-Guillou
A multi-media experience bringing together performance and film accompanied by an intense, beat-driven live soundtrack by Larry Achiampong (1984, UK) at the White Chapel Building
An installation by Rachel Pimm (b.1984, Zimbabwe) hosted at the Grade II* listed Whitechapel Bell Foundry on Whitechapel Road
An international project, Plantón Móvil, with Peruvian artist Lucia Monge; a ‘walking forest’ of plants and people moving together, giving shrubs, flowers and trees the opportunity to ‘walk’ down the streets and to claim their place in our public space
For its inaugural year the Nocturnal Creatures festival coincides with Whitechapel Gallery’s triennial summer exhibition The London Open 2018. Also featuring in the exhibition, multimedia artist Tom Lock will transform a new building in nearby Broadgate with his monumental audio-visual work Within (2018). Bespoke, organic visuals will move across multiple projection screens to a soundtrack of live experimental music from Rudi Schmidt. Song and spoken word from Manuela Barczewski add further layers to create an environment that merges the sinister and playful, melancholic to euphoric. The work is inspired by Octavia E. Butler’s science-fiction novel Lilith’s Brood (1987), which poses an ethical question voiced by aliens: in the face of the human race’s impeding self-destruction, is hybridity the means for survival? The performance will create a space to consider how we relate to one another within London’s rigid urban spaces. It is situated within Broadgate, London’s largest pedestrianised neighbourhood. Its bars, restaurants, businesses, public art and year-round events calendar make up one of the city’s most diverse and vibrant communities.
In the Whitechapel Gallery’s main exhibition space, Alexis Teplin will present hourly performances of Arch (The Politics of Fragmentation) (2016), a mesmerising work performed by three actors in three acts. Teplin, a painter whose practice expands beyond the limits of the frame, situates the action in front of her large-scale painting. Referencing Indian street theatre, 1960s Hollywood film and the traditions of Russian abstract theatre, the actors recite scripts composed of Teplin’s own writings, interwoven with fragments collected from an eclectic array of sources including news reports and the works of Doris Lessing.
Nocturnal Creatures takes place in association with Sculpture in the City, the City of London’s annual public art programme which situates 18 works from internationally renowned artists amongst City of London architectural landmarks close to the Whitechapel Gallery. Sculpture in the City will host expert tours with participating artists.
This year, the project welcomes works by established international artists including Marina Abramović, Sarah Lucas, Tracey Emin and Sean Scully, and also gives the platform to younger emerging artists, presenting Shaun C Badham’s I’M STAYING, a neon work situated in Leadenhall Market, and Amanda Lwin’s new commission A Worldwide Web of Somewheres, a textile map of the City of London. Amanda Lwin, Shaun C Badham, Jyll Bradley and more of the participating artists will lead tours drawing on their experience of the area and consider, amongst other themes, current and social issues linked to the works on display and how they are inspired by the locality.
Launching to coincide with Nocturnal Creatures, Sculpture in the City x Musicity, supported by Brookfield Properties, will enliven local sites with sound. Attendees of the festival will experience for the first time newly commissioned audio tracks. Created in response to the area’s landmarks and historic venues, they link music and architecture and provide a new way of seeing and hearing the area. Covering different corners of the City, Musicity adds to the digital transformation of Sculpture in the City and will animate self-guided tours. Musicity sites range from Principal Place in the north to Aldgate Tower close to the Whitechapel Gallery and will include new site-specific work by Sarathy Korwar, Midori Komachi, Bambooman and Angele David-Guillou. The music mix will range from modern classical and electronic to 80s inspired electro-pop and globally inspired soundscapes.
Elsewhere, artist Jaspar Joseph-Lester and writer Simon King will lead a semi-fictionalised walk from Walkative, which looks for elements of Los Angeles in the East End. Walkative is a research project that explores how walking can trigger processes of making, thinking and researching.
Iwona Blazwick, former Whitechapel Gallery Director, said: “Demand for accessible, night-time arts and culture in London is ever-increasing. Last year, we participated in the momentous Art Night, and we were truly inspired. So we’re hugely excited to be launching a new, free, late-night arts festival for the East End. A celebration of London’s creativity and resilient contemporary art scene, it will be a coming-together of practitioners, new spaces and audiences. Come and join us.”
Notes to Editors
More detail of the Nocturnal Creatures programme will be released throughout July.
The London Open: The London Open 2018 brings together the most dynamic and critical contemporary art being made in the capital today. The latest edition of this triennial summer exhibition offers a free, lively space to discover new work and reflect on a time of significant change in this global city. The exhibition features a diverse selection of 22 artists working in London and engaging with topical concerns; from the rapidly changing urban context, the environment, technology, gender and race to queer representation, human relations, activism and post-colonial histories. Many work in unprecedented ways and across different artistic forms, ranging from painting, video and sound to installation, sculpture, performance and work online.
Whitechapel Gallery: For over a century the Whitechapel Gallery has premiered world class artists from modern masters such as Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Frida Kahlo to contemporaries such as Sophie Calle, Lucian Freud, Gilbert & George and Mark Wallinger. With beautiful galleries, exhibitions, artist commissions, collection displays, historic archives, education resources, inspiring art courses, dining room and bookshop, the Gallery is open all year round, so there is always something free to see. It is a touchstone for contemporary art internationally, plays a central role in London’s cultural landscape and is pivotal to the continued growth of the world’s most vibrant contemporary art quarter.
About Broadgate: Broadgate is where innovation and finance play. It is the largest pedestrianised neighbourhood in Central London: a diverse community connecting innovation and finance, and a public arena for new food, retail and culture. Lying adjacent to the busy transport hub of Liverpool Street station and surrounded by Shoreditch, Spitalfields, Old Street and the City, Broadgate connects Europe’s capitals of investment and technology. Joint owners British Land and GIC are investing £1.5 billion in Broadgate’s evolution into a world class, mixed use destination for London. Their masterplan for Broadgate will deliver 4.9 million sq ft of new and redefined workplaces, retail and restaurants, bringing people together to work, shop, drink and dine. Broadgate’s rare collection of public spaces combines the community and feel of the historic piazza with the energy of modern London. These spaces play host to over 100 cultural events annually, providing a showcase for emerging ideas and talent.
Sculpture in the City: Sculpture in the City is a unique collaboration between the City of London Corporation (the elected body which looks after the Square Mile global business district), local businesses, and the art world, providing the opportunity for new audiences to engage with established and emerging contemporary artists. The initiative is delivered through a partnership between the City of London Corporation in partnership with Aon, Aviva, Blackstone, Bloomberg, British Land, Twenty Two, Brookfield, CC Land, Generali Real Estate, Hiscox, TH Real Estate and Tower 42. The project is also supported by the City of London Corporation’s Women: Work & Power Project Patrons include: Ascend, JSRE 30 St Mary Axe Ltd Leadenhall Market, Make, MTEC, PLP/Architecture and Price & Myers. With thanks to participating artists and galleries: Amanda Lwin, Blain Southern, Clare Jarrett, Galerie Chantal Crousel, Galerie Fons Welters, Gagosian, Hales Gallery, Jyll Bradley, l’etrangere, Lisson Gallery, Richard Rome, Sadie Coles, Shaun C Badham, Sprüth Magers, T J Boulting, Thomas Dane Gallery, Waddington Custot and White Cube. For more information please visit: www.sculptureinthecity.org.uk
Sculpture in the City x Musicity: Supported by Brookfield, Musicity is a web app that provides a new way of seeing and hearing the city where you can experience architecture-inspired music and sound art in the very place that sparked its creation. Musicity invites musicians and recording artists to compose tracks for buildings in cities around the world and will be delivering 9 new tracks as part of this unique collaboration.
About White Chapel Building and Derwent London plc: Derwent London is known for its innovative approach to architecture and design. Abundant natural light, volume and high quality detail are found in every one of our projects. We believe in a building directly responding to its place and we partner with the most talented architects and designers who share our passion. Equally, we believe in making spaces that are sustainable – both to their environments and users. We adopt this ethos and know we have succeeded when we see our tenants happy in their surroundings. Our portfolio is some 5.5 million square feet with a value of around £4.9 billion. In 2017 Derwent London completed its Phase 1 refurbishment of The White Chapel Building and, at the end of 2018, will complete Phase 2 which has been pre-let to Fotografiska for their London Museum of Photography. This will be their first gallery outside Stockholm and will add another important cultural venue to the Whitechapel area.
About Whitechapel Bell Foundry: Raycliff, the owner of the former Bell Foundry buildings, is working with a heritage-led design team to deliver an exciting new and sustainable future for the site which celebrates and retains the architectural and historical significance of the Grade II* listed foundry building on the Whitechapel Road. Operating on this site since the 1740s, the Whitechapel Bell Foundry was responsible for the creation of some of the world’s most famous bells, including Big Ben and the original Liberty Bell. The Westley Group, based in Stoke on Trent, continues the manufacture of tower bells under licence and Bells Of Whitechapel Ltd continues the production and maintenance of musical handbells and small bells. The archives are being conserved at the London Metropolitan Archives to allow public access to the collection at the expense of Whitechapel Bell Foundry Ltd. Most of the skilled employees formerly employed at Whitechapel are re-employed within the industry. John Taylor & Company, based in Loughborough, continue to cast new tower bells.
About St George’s German Lutheran Church: The oldest surviving German church in the country opened in 1763 and has a rare, mostly original Georgian interior and a colourful social history, particularly in the 1930s, when the Pastor was actively helping people fleeing persecution in Germany. The church is owned by the Historic Chapels Trust and events are organised by the Friends of St George’s German Lutheran Church, a volunteer support group.
Visitor Information
Admission: Free
Opening times: Tuesday – Sunday, 11am – 6pm; Thursdays, 11am – 9pm
Whitechapel Gallery, 77 – 82 Whitechapel High Street, London E1 7QX
Nearest London Underground Stations: Aldgate East, Liverpool Street, Tower Gateway DLR
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