LONDON.- Hunter / Whitfield presents ‘Caves and Grottoes’ which will be on view from 25 November 2016 to 19 January 2017. The first multidisciplinary exhibition to take place at the new gallery at 30d Great Sutton Street, London, the show will examine links between caves and art history, touching on ideas of shelter, isolation and contemplation, and including works from pre-history to the modern day. The exhibition opens with a private view on the evening of 24 November.
The centerpiece of the exhibition is a magnificent and fearsome skeleton of a prehistoric cave bear. Approximately 500,000 years old, the skeleton is remarkable in being complete. Another leading highlight is ‘Cave’ by Gavin Turk, who is currently subject of a retrospective at Newport Street Gallery. In 1991, for his postgraduate degree show at the Royal College of Art, Turk whitewashed an empty studio and showed only a blue, English Heritage-style plaque dedicated to himself which read ‘Gavin Turk Sculptor worked here 1989-91’. He was refused his MA for not providing a substantial enough body of work, but somewhat ironically, it was ‘Cave’ which brought him immediate fame and prominence.
Further highlights include a Chinese stone head originally from a Buddhist cave temple and dating from the Song Dynasty (960-1260 AD), a terracotta depiction of St. Jerome outside his cave by the Florentine Renaissance master Benedetto Buglioni (1459/60-1521), and works by George Stubbs (1724-1806), John Piper (1903-1992) and Mike Kelley (1954-2012) who is currently subject of an exhibition at Hauser and Wirth, London.
Ben Hunter and Orlando Whitfield: “It’s really e xciting for us to be showing the first multi disciplinary exhibition in our new gallery space in Farringdon. United by the theme of caves and grottoes, w e have brought together a diverse group of art from through the ages, all inspired by the timeless idea of shelter, isolation and contemplation. Since we launched last year, we have focused primarily on our emerging art program. ‘Caves and Grottoes’ is the first in a series of exhibitions that will include non-contemporary artworks and objects, chosen according to our interest, expertise and the works ’ aesthetic value. Both of us are fascinat ed by the art of the past, whether that be objects and artefacts from the ancient world, or artworks made during the last decade. As we have always dealt in art from the past, we are excited to bring this side of our business into the exhibition program . ”
Established in 2015, Hunter / Whitfield is an art gallery in London with a predominant focus on contemporary art. The gallery was co-founded by Ben Hunter and Orlando Whitfield, both of whom previously held senior positions at established art dealerships based in London.
The gallery hosts a regular schedule of exhibitions showing artists working in a range of mediums; recent solo shows have included exhibitions dedicated to the works of Christopher Page, Lars Bjerre, Thomas Hutton, Rebecca Ackroyd, Benjamin Heiken, Jeffrey Stuker and Adam Gordon. In addition, the gallery plans to host a series of exhibitions to run alongside their gallery artist program; these exhibitions will draw on their interest and expertise in pre- contemporary art and objects.
