© Sid White-Jones - House Bulletin cover.
© Sid White-Jones - Editors note.
Back in March, I enjoyed some university-approved snooping thanks to Kettle’s Yard and Inga Fraser, Senior Curator of the House & Collection.
Whilst the Kettle’s Yard house was temporarily closed for the installation of new heating and cooling systems, we visited various university sites that house works from the wider collection and photographed them in these surroundings - inspired by Louise Lawler, one of the pivotal members of The Pictures Generation.
During these visits we were greeted by the works of Hans (Jean) Arp, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Gerard Hemsworth, Elisabeth Vellacott, Alfred Wallis Ethelbert White and more.
As we moved through offices and administrative sites, it struck me that whilst not aiming to create a curated, cohesive environment like the Ede’s had at Kettle’s Yard, there was similarity between these office installations and the domestic displays of Kettle’s Yard for how both refuse to conceal the ordinary. One of the photographs below which provides an example of this, depicts Gerard Hemsworth’s Still Life with Miracle (1980) alongside a printer, filing cabinet and personal ephemera.
© Sid White-Jones - Gerard Hemsworth at the Old Schools, 2024.
© Sid White-Jones - An Arrangement of Pictures: The Old Schools, page 15.
This image was later printed in the inaugural edition of the Kettle’s Yard House Bulletin, with the following text:
“An Arrangement of Pictures: The Old Schools.
Like the USA-based artist Louise Lawler (b. 1947) we are fascinated by how artworks are recontextualised when on display in homes or exhibitions. Lawler collected her photographs of art in domestic and institutional spaces in a book called An Arrangement of Pictures.
Here we present photographs of works from Kettle's Yard's collection on loan around the UK, the first being Gerard Hemsworth's Still Life with Miracle (1980) in the university offices. It reads, appropriately, 'context, content, contingent’.”
The House Bulletin is a publication available to those who become a Friend of Kettle’s Yard.
The Friends of Kettle’s Yard were established in 1984 to provide financial support Kettle’s Yard. The community of Friends helps to conserve the house and collection, present ground-breaking exhibitions, develop exciting learning and community projects and make art accessible to all while also developing your own interest in art. More about the Friends ok Kettle’s Yard can be found on their website here.
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Special Thanks -
To Inga Fraser for these lovely Lawler-inspired mornings back in March.