Serpentine Gallery

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Coordinates: 51°30′17″N 0°10′30″W / 51.50466°N 0.17505°W / 51.50466; -0.17505

Serpentine Gallery

The Serpentine Gallery with the 2008 Pavilion
Serpentine Gallery is located in Central London
Location within Central London
Established 1970
Location Kensington Gardens, London W2, England, United Kingdom
Visitor figures

734,353 (2009)[1]
Director Julia Peyton Jones
Public transit access Lancaster Gate Central roundel1.PNG
South Kensington Circle roundel1.PNG District roundel1.PNG Piccadilly roundel1.PNG
Website www.serpentinegallery.org

The Serpentine Gallery is an art gallery in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, central London. It focuses on modern and contemporary art. The exhibitions, architecture, education and public programmes attract approximately 750,000 visitors a year. Admission is free.

Established in 1970 and housed in a classical 1934 tea pavilion, it takes its name from the nearby Serpentine Lake.

Notable artists who have been exhibited there include Man Ray, Henry Moore, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Paula Rego, Bridget Riley, Allan McCollum, Anish Kapoor, Christian Boltanski, Richard Prince, Gerhard Richter, Damien Hirst, and Jeff Koons.

On the ground at the gallery's entrance is a permanent work by Ian Hamilton Finlay in collaboration with Peter Coates, dedicated to Diana, Princess of Wales, the Serpentine's former patron.

In 2006 Serpentine Gallery premiered a major exhibition of contemporary Chinese Art. Titled China Power Station: Part One, the exhibition was housed in Battersea Power Station in South London, offering a rare glimpse for the public of the interior of a well known landmark.

The gallery was set up by the Arts Council of Great Britain and for its first years was only open on a limited basis during the summer months. In 1991, Julia Peyton Jones OBE was appointed as Director and under her the gallery was extensively refurbished. In 2006 the curator Hans Ulrich Obrist was appointed as Co-Director Exhibitions and Programmes, and Director International Projects.

[edit] Pavilions

The Serpentine Gallery annually commissions international architects of worldwide acclaim to design a pavilion on the gallery’s lawn that provides a unique showcase for contemporary architectural practice. The pavilion is host to a special programme of film screenings, talks, the BBC proms and café.

Since 2000 each summer the gallery has commissioned a temporary pavilion by leading architects including:

[edit] References

  1. ^ "VISITS MADE IN 2009 TO VISITOR ATTRACTIONS IN MEMBERSHIP WITH ALVA". Association of Leading Visitor Attractions. http://www.alva.org.uk/visitor_statistics/. Retrieved 21 May 2010. 
  2. ^ Guardian: Toyo Ito pavilion
  3. ^ Guardian: Oscar Niemeyer pavilion
  4. ^ 0lll: Eduardo Souto de Moura-Álvaro Siza pavilion
  5. ^ Guardian: Rem Koolhaas pavilion
  6. ^ Guardian: Zaha Hadid pavilion
  7. ^ Guardian: Olafur Eliasson pavilion
  8. ^ The Guardian: Serpentine Pavilion 2008: Frank Gehry, 22 July 2008
  9. ^ Jonathan Glancey: Sanaa unveils enchanting Serpentine pavilion in The Guardian, 2 April 2009
  10. ^ The Guardian: Jean Nouvel's Serpentine gallery pavilion, 6 July 2010
  11. ^ Jonathan Glancey: Swiss-made Serpentine pavilion presents garden of tranquility in The Guardian, 27 June 2011

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Serpentine Gallery Pavilion
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serpentine_Gallery"
Personal tools
Namespaces
Variants
Actions
Navigation
Interaction
Toolbox
Print/export
Languages