LONDON.- Founded in 1901 to bring great art to the people of East London,
Whitechapel Gallery is a touchstone for contemporary art internationally. This summer the Gallery celebrates its East London roots, presenting cutting-edge contemporary art around the vibrant East End. Nocturnal Creatures is a free annual late-night festival inviting everyone to explore a host of extraordinary local spaces transformed by leading international artists. Curated by the Gallerys experts and in association with Sculpture and the City, a diverse group of exciting artists show new commissions, live performance, music, film, food experiences, multimedia artwork and participatory projects.
The full line-up ranges from Turner Prize winner Laure Prouvosts (b. 1978) opera singing performer taking up residence at an iconic East End boozer to internationally renowned artist Michael Rakowitz (b. 1973) staging a food intervention in the Whitechapel Gallery Refectory. A Tabita Rezaire (b. 1989) film screens in a masonic temple and an Emma Smith (b. 1981) sound work premieres in the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. There is a new performance work from artist and composer Elaine Mitchener and a feminist pub takeover from Ruth Ewan (b. 1980). Expect live performance by Appau Jnr Boakye-Yiadom (b. 1984), film by Abigail Reynolds, and painted installation by Navine G. Khan-Dossos (b. 1982) located in unique East End venues including the Wash Houses at London Metropolitan University, Toynbee Hall and White Chapel Building, and Leadenhall Market. Associate programme partner Sculpture in the City have commissioned two new works from Graeme Miller (b. 1960) and Guillaume Vandame (b. 1991) and will also host a series of tours, talks and performances by Sculpture in the City artists including Reza Aramesh (b. 1970), Shaun C Badham (b. 1990), Marisa Ferreira (b. 1983), Leo Fitzmaurice (b. 1963), Clare Jarrett and Nina Saunders (b. 1950).
New participatory performance and sound installation from Emma Smith at Whitechapel Bell Foundry
Artist Emma Smith invites audiences of all ages to turn Brick Lane into a large-scale water clock a timepiece that measures time through the regulated flow of liquid from one place to another. The piece culminates in an immersive sound installation at the historic Grade II* listed Whitechapel Bell Foundry. In homage to the Foundry's extraordinary history and legacy, the artist brings together the sounds of bells from around the world. In a newlycomposed score, Smith allows recordings of the Foundrys bells made across its 447 year history to ring out together.
Laure Prouvosts operatic its a tragedy brings to life snippets of overheard conversations at the Golden Heart Pub
Throughout the evening, an opera singer spontaneously performs live, repeating overheard fragments of personal conversations at The Golden Heart pub. First presented at Frieze Art Fair in 2018, where audiences were treated to choral renditions of phrases such as Have you watched Bake-Off? this performance work can be heard throughout Nocturnal Creatures in the iconic pub, famous for its East End artist patrons.
Elaine Mitchener presents a new performance in conversation with Helen Cammocks Che si può fare
In dialogue with Max Mara Art Prize winner Helen Cammocks (b. 1970) film Che si può fare (What can be done), which is on display at the Gallery until 1st September 2019, artist and composer Elaine Mitchener takes In Darkness Let Me Dwell (1610) by lutenist and composer John Dowland as a starting point. Mitchener traces the key theme of womens lament in Cammocks work across genres, combining live solo and pre-recorded multiple voices.
Michael Rakowitz invites guests to enjoy a novel culinary experience Internationally renowned Iraqi-American artist Michael Rakowitz , whose debut UK survey is on display at Whitechapel Gallery until 25th August, shares culinary delights from his recently published cookbook, A House With A Date Palm Will Never Starve (2019) in the Whitechapel Gallery Refectory .
A specially-commissioned installation and sound performance by Appau Jnr Boakye-Yiadom transforms the entrance to the White Chapel Building
In a new commission, multimedia artist Appau Jnr Boakye-Yiadom presents a live improvised electronic music performance for the duration of the evening. This new musical score will accompany a sculptural installation of images of African-American Jazz dancer Clarence Scoby Stroman performing the move taking flight.
Film installation from Tabita Rezaire takes over the Masonic Lodge at the Andaz Hotel
The dynamic video Peaceful Warrior (2015) by video artist Tabita Rezaire forms an immersive installation, weaving together the themes of race, gender and the legacies of colonialism within the context of a masonic temple. Audiences enter the surreal and unique Grade II listed Masonic temple situated within the hotel. It dates from 1912 and was only rediscovered during recent renovations on the building, having previously been concealed behind a wall.
New mural from Navine G. Khan-Dossos meets Toynbee Hall
Designs produced locally for The Prevent Strategy, part of the British Governments counter-terrorism policy, were the starting point for a series of abstract paintings from British visual artist Navine G. Khan-Dossos whose work explores aniconic imagery in the digital realm. Khan-Dossos investigated visual branding strategies used by Prevent, and the role its symbolic representation plays in British society today. Also on display is a logo produced by the artist in collaboration with the Whitechapel Gallerys Youth Forum Duchamp & Sons.
Abigail Reynolds presents Lost Libraries in the Wash Houses at London Metropolitan University
Drawing directly on the relationship between a space and its history here in the former home of The Womens Library, British artist Abigail Reynolds presents Lost Libraries. This multimedia installation documents the artists solitary journey to sites of former libraries along the Silk Road, an ancient network of trade routes which connected East Asia and Southeast Asia with other parts of the world. Each space tells a story of libraries lost to political conflict, natural catastrophe, revolution, and war, as told through this split screen meditation.
Interventions from Ruth Ewan located The Bell and Golden Heart pubs, East London
600 songs with a feminist agenda are collated in Scottish artist Ruth Ewans work A Feminist Jukebox of People Trying to Change the World, 2018, available to play in The Bell pub for one night only. In both The Bell and the Golden Heart, in collaboration with a traditional artisan sign writer, Ewan also presents new ornate pub-style mirrors that feature the words of feminist icons Sylvia Pankhurst and Mary Wollstonecraft alongside specially-designed beer mats.
Sculpture in the City will once again be the associate programme partner for the second edition of Nocturnal Creatures. Sculpture in the City is the City of Londons annual public art programme set amongst iconic architectural landmarks and returns this year for its ninth edition with 19 artworks making up the outdoor sculpture park in the Square Mile, to include a new artwork by Jonathan Trayte (b. 1980) to be unveiled in autumn 2019.
Sculpture in the City host live events and participatory performances by artists including Guillaume Vandame, Graeme Miller, Reza Aramesh, Shaun C Badham, Marisa Ferreira, Leo Fitzmaurice, Clare Jarrett and Nina Saunders.
Notice Me (LGBTQIA+ Walk) is a participatory artwork led by Guillaume Vandame: LGBTQIA+ individuals of all ages and backgrounds, plus supporters of the community, are invited to dress in one of the seven colours associated with the LGBTQIA+ community (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink) for a walk exploring the Sculpture in the City area, highlighting the diversity of sculptures on display along the way.
Graeme Millers On Air (2012) is a broadcast work staged between an aerial vantage point and an audience at ground level. Throughout the evening, visitors to St. Botolphs Without Aldgate will hear a description of the landscape from commentators situated up high in an unscripted, witty and unique response to their location.
Artist Leo Fitzmaurice will host a walkntalk with Phaidons Rebecca Morrill, inviting visitors to stroll the City streets, whilst Shaun C Badhams The Will to Proceed is a participatory tour asking visitors to select their route. Clare Jarretts performance The Fabric evokes the mundanity of daily tasks experienced by many women around the world, whilst Nina Saunders and Reza Aramesh have each created new site-specific performances responding to City locations. Artists Marisa Ferreira and Richard Wentworth will be in conversation, reflecting on how we remember our cities through their buildings. Further thematic tours of the ninth edition of Sculpture in the City will depart from Leadenhall Market including Where Art Meets Architecture led by David Rosenberg of Velorose. Acclaimed street photographer Nick Turpin will document the evening and judge an Instagram-based street photography competition.
Musicity x Sculpture in the City is a project designed to enliven local sites with sound by linking architecture with music. Once again it will be live during the evening with a Silent Disco evening at Leadenhall Market, headlined by Mixmaster Morris. Midori Komachi will perform a solo violin programme including her Musicity x Sculpture in the City site-specific composition Full as Deep at Undershaft.
Affiliate Programme of galleries open late into the night across the East End Local galleries will open their doors to late night visitors as part of the official affiliate programme. Galleries include Leyden Gallery, Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix, StolenSpace Gallery, 5th Base Gallery, Gallery S O, and PEER.
For one night only, Nocturnal Creatures represents an exciting opportunity to discover extraordinary works of art in unusual locations throughout the East End.
All events are free to attend and open to all.