Speech Acts: Reflection-Imagination-Repetition
What stories emerge to frame the visitor鈥檚 encounters with the art that they see, and cloak the art that they don鈥檛? How do these stories change over time?
Through the work of more than 40 artists, Speech Acts: Reflection-Imagination- Repetition considers how public museums reflect and shape our collective imagination, and examines how exhibitions can affect these shared narratives. This exhibition shows how artworks can nurture new stories if they are shown in ways beyond the limited frames of biography and identity.
Comprising more than 70 works and archival documents ranging from the 18th to the 21st century, Speech Acts is drawn primarily from four public collections: Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford, John Rylands Library (The University of Manchester), Manchester Art Gallery and the Whitworth. It has been developed as part of, and in conversation with Black Artists and Modernism: a three-year research project led by University of the Arts London in collaboration with Middlesex University and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Speech Acts is an exhibition that contributes to the ongoing debates around the role of art collections and art institutions in public life. The origins of Manchester Art Gallery lie in the Institute movements of the Industrial Revolution, with a clear mission to provide creative education and discourse for all classes in the advancement of a healthy society. Through such work, the Gallery maintains the traditions of an active and progressive public forum, at the heart of the city 鈥� co-creating with their publics the story of their culture and assimilating new ideas to shape the future of civic life.
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What stories emerge to frame the visitor鈥檚 encounters with the art that they see, and cloak the art that they don鈥檛? How do these stories change over time?
Through the work of more than 40 artists, Speech Acts: Reflection-Imagination- Repetition considers how public museums reflect and shape our collective imagination, and examines how exhibitions can affect these shared narratives. This exhibition shows how artworks can nurture new stories if they are shown in ways beyond the limited frames of biography and identity.
Comprising more than 70 works and archival documents ranging from the 18th to the 21st century, Speech Acts is drawn primarily from four public collections: Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford, John Rylands Library (The University of Manchester), Manchester Art Gallery and the Whitworth. It has been developed as part of, and in conversation with Black Artists and Modernism: a three-year research project led by University of the Arts London in collaboration with Middlesex University and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Speech Acts is an exhibition that contributes to the ongoing debates around the role of art collections and art institutions in public life. The origins of Manchester Art Gallery lie in the Institute movements of the Industrial Revolution, with a clear mission to provide creative education and discourse for all classes in the advancement of a healthy society. Through such work, the Gallery maintains the traditions of an active and progressive public forum, at the heart of the city 鈥� co-creating with their publics the story of their culture and assimilating new ideas to shape the future of civic life.
Artists on show
- Abigail Reynolds
- Ahmed Parvez
- Alan Davie
- Andrzej Lachowicz
- Anwar Jelal Shemza
- Aubrey Williams
- Barbara Brown
- Barbara Hepworth
- Bridget Riley
- Bryan Wynter
- Chris Ofili
- Conroy/Sanderson
- David Hockney
- Delia Derbyshire
- Do Ho Suh
- Dom Sylvester Houédard
- Eduardo Paolozzi
- Edward Burne-Jones
- Fahr-el-Nissa Zeid
- Francis Bacon
- Frank Auerbach
- Getulio Alviani
- Gilbert & George
- Helen Petts
- Henry Moore
- Hetain Patel
- James Northcote
- Keith Piper
- Keith Richardson-Jones
- Kim Lim
- Li Yuan-Chia
- Lubaina Himid
- Lubna Chowdhary
- Lucian Freud
- Mauro Kunst
- Mona Hatoum
- Pushpamala N.
- R. B. Kitaj
- Rasheed Araeen
- Said Adrus
- Samuel Fyzee-Rahamin
- Shelagh Wakely
- Shirazeh Houshiary
- Sir William Rothenstein
- Stansfield / Hooykaas
- Steven Pippin
- Sutapa Biswas
- William Crozier
- William Turnbull
- Winifred Nicholson
- Wyndham Lewis
- Yara El-Sherbini
- Yinka Shonibare
Contact details
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