Michael Landy: Michael Landy's Welcome to Essex, Firstsite, Essex

Firstsite will present a new body of work by Michael Landy that explores the recent history of his home county, Essex, and its contemporary portrayal in popular culture. The exhibition will unpack stereotypes of the county and question the influence of the media in conjunction with political agendas, in forming regional and national identities and often harmful stereotypes that deviate from on-the-ground reality.

For Welcome to Essex Landy has created an archive entitled Essexism which will occupy several of Firstsite’s gallery spaces. The archive highlights the stereotyping of the county’s population, into figures such as ‘Essex Man’ and ‘Essex Girl’ and comprises of clips from TV shows and films, plus books, magazine articles, music and newspaper articles from the last 30 years. Landy will also look to the history of Essex, such as the Plotlanders, who in the early 20^th-century went from London’s East End to self-build small houses on unwanted farm land in places such as Dunton, near Basildon. 

Connecting this history to experienced reality, Landy has been exploring Essex on foot, taking a series of walks around the county with notable cultural figures from Essex. Conversations undertaken and locations visited will be represented in the show in a new commission on Firstsite’s 140-metre curved internal wall.

Exhibition dates: 25 June - 5 September 2021

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Hurvin Anderson: Monograph, Lund Humphries

As part of the Contemporary Painters Series, Lund Humphries publish the first comprehensive overview of Hurvin Anderson, now available to pre-order. Drawing on interviews with the artist, Michael J. Prokopow offers a critical assessment of Hurvin Anderson’s painting practice to date alongside 100 colour illustrations. 

The Lund Humphries Contemporary Painters Series offers comprehensive, accessible, authoritative and highly illustrated monographs on the world’s leading living painters. Its aim – to ‘take the pulse’ of contemporary painting.

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Hurvin Anderson: School Prints 2021, The Hepworth Wakefield

Hurvin Anderson is one of six artists to create a limited edition print for The Hepworth Wakefield's School Prints 2021. 

Launched in 2018 by The Hepworth Wakefield, School Prints is an ambitious five-year project to engage every primary school child in Wakefield District with contemporary art. Each year, the participating schools are gifted a set of limited-edition prints by leading contemporary artists for display in school and are supported with an in-depth engagement programme led by local artists to encourage creativity across the curriculum.

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Amy Sillman: Live Online Conversation, Printed Matter Virtual Art Book Fair

As part of Printed Matter Virtual Art Book Fair's (PMVABF) 'The Classroom' series, Amy Sillman will be joined in live conversation with Rindon Johnson. Taking Faux Pas: Selected Writings and Drawings of Amy Sillman (After 8 Books, 2020) and Rindon Johnson’s The Law of Large Numbers: Black Sonic Abyss, or I do not walk a line that is thin, straight, or secure (Inpatient Press, 2021) as its starting points, this conversation between Amy Sillman and Rindon Johnson will deal with both artists' writing practices and the central question of form in rethinking art history and aesthetic categories. Presented by After 8 Books.

Saturday, 27 February, 2pm (EST, 7pm GMT)

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Luisa Lambri: AUTORITRATTO, Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea (PAC), Milan

Curated by Diego Sileo and Douglas Fogle

PAC presents Luisa Lambri's first large-scale solo exhibition in Italy, a project curated in dialogue with the architecture of the Milanese pavilion designed by Ignazio Gardella. Displaying a selection of works made between 1999 and 2017, the exhibition focuses on Lambri's photographs of residential buildings by architects including Mies van der Rohe, Luis Barragan and Giuseppe Terragni. The photographs on display become an extension of the exhibition space, enhancing the interaction between architecture, representation and subjective experience.

Exhibition dates: 16 February - 30 May 2021

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Amie Siegel: Foundation for Contemporary Arts Awards 2021 Artist Grants

Congratulations to Amie Siegel, who is a recipient of a 2021 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Awards (FCA) Grants to Artists award. Siegel is one of six visual artists to receive the unrestricted award.

Founded in 1963 by John Cage and Jasper Johns, the FCA is a unique “artists for artists” foundation supporting innovative work in the arts. 

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Image: Amie Siegel, Diamond Wire Saw-Imperial Danby, 2019, marble dust on duvetyne. Photo courtesy Blaffer Art Museum, Houston. 

Michael Landy: Live Online Conversation with Artangel Co-Director James Lingwood

Wednesday, 10 February, 7pm GMT
Register here to watch the live conversation

Michael Landy will be joined by Artangel Co-Director James Lingwood to discuss his seminal project, Break Down, which opened to crowds in London on 10 February 2001. 

For Break Down, Landy created an inventory of his every possession, each to be destroyed at a specially constructed facility modelled on a material reclamation factory, installed at an empty department store on Oxford Street, London. Landy set about systematically deconstructing, pulping and granulating all 7,227 of his worldly possessions with the help of a team of operatives and a dedicated car mechanic. After two weeks, Landy was left with only the clothes he was wearing on the final day of Break Down. 

Two decades on, this talk celebrates the twentieth anniversary of Break Down whilst reconvening the artist with the project commissioner for an opportunity to reflect on the work's many themes and its legacy. 

Viewers are encouraged to post questions prior to and during the conversation via YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram using #20YearsSinceBreakDown. A selection will be posed live by James Lingwood during the audience Q&A section.

To accompany the anniversary, Thomas Dane Gallery will present Michael Landy's Break Down: 20 Years, a display of archive materials on the lower level at No 3 Duke St, St James's when the gallery reopens. Dates will be announced in due course and further information will be posted on our website and social media.

Catherine Opie: Monograph, Phaidon

Phaidon will publish the first survery monography on Catherine Opie, now available to pre-order. This unique artist monograph presents a compelling visual narrative of Opie's work since the early 1980s, pairing images across bodies of work to form a full picture of her artistic vision. With more than 300 beautiful illustrations and made in close collaboration with Opie, the book marks a turning point in the consideration of this artist's work to date.  

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Akram Zaatari: Online Lecture, VCUarts

Akram Zaatari presents an online lecture as part of Wavelength, a series created in collaboration between VCUarts, the ICA, and VCUarts Qatar. Zaatari is part of a selection of artists, designers, curators and scholars who have been invited to share their work with the VCU communities in Richmond and Doha as well as the general public throughout the 2020–21 academic year.

Tuesday, 26 January, 12-1:30pm (ET, 5-6:30pm GMT)

Further information

For the Christmas holidays, Thomas Dane Gallery in London and Naples will be closed from Thursday 24 December 2020 through Sunday 3 January 2021. 

Both galleries will reopen on Monday 4 January 2021. ⁣