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THE ART OF MAPPING curated by TAG Fine Arts
The Air Gallery, Dover Street, London W1S 4NE
Exhibition Dates: 14 – 26 November 2011
Maps are more than just tools for getting from A to B: they are selective records of the
wider world, loaded with creative, and often subjective, meaning. They are increasingly in
the public eye. From Google’s controversial Street View project, to the British Library’s
landmark ‘Magnificent Maps’ exhibition last year, cartography is in the process of being
reimagined for today’s society.
TAG Fine Arts’ upcoming exhibition, The Art of Mapping, expands on these debates and
celebrates cartography’s potential as an art form, rather than a science. Artists
throughout history have used maps to respond to their environment, and creatively
register ideologies, emotions and ideas. TAG will present work by a selection of the finest
contemporary artists recently to engage with this rich visual tradition.
Confirmed exhibitors include Grayson Perry and Stephen Walter, the only living artists to be
included in the British Library’s superb cartographic exhibition in 2010; Paula Scher, whose
colourful, text-based maps were created as an expressive antidote to the bureaucracy of
her internationally acclaimed graphic design projects; Robert Walden, whose delicately
imagined ontological roadmaps were recently shown at the major exhibition ‘Mappa
Mundi’ in Lisbon; and Cai Yuan, one half of the performance duo who famously jumped
on Tracey Emin’s bed, who has turned his hand to cartographic prints. TAG is delighted
also to be exhibiting Simon Patterson’s ‘The Great Bear’ on special loan from the London
Transport Museum. This seminal piece, created nearly ten years ago, is one of the most
recognisable and influential examples of modern mapmaking to date.
TAG is working with a host of new international artists, and has specially commissioned
several unique works for the show. Susan Stockwell, who has exhibited previously at the
V&A, Iniva and the Royal Geographical Society, will create a map of the British Isles using
discarded computer parts, and also a limited edition print (a new venture into the medium). Gonkar Gyatso will take a fresh look at mapping in his first cartographic
creation, and Claire Brewster is creating a site-specific installation piece. TAG will also
introduce previously unseen works by US-based artists Dahlia Elsayed and Heidi Whitman,
both exhibiting for the first time in the UK.
TAG’s experience dealing in prints and editions lends itself to map-related works, which
have traditionally been created for dissemination. This exhibition is a wonderful opportunity
for our emerging stable of artists to make new work, following TAG’s publication of
Stephen Walter’s London Series. Stanley Donwood will release two new print editions to
coincide with the show, and Justine Smith and Jonathan Parsons are completing new
editioned works.
TAG invites artists to reengage with mapmaking processes and aesthetics, and creatively
transform them. This is a fantastic opportunity literally to redraw the map in artistic terms.
A colour catalogue will accompany this exhibition.
Exhibiting Artists
Neal Beggs | Claire Brewster | Christa Dichgans | Stanley Donwood | Peter Dykhuis |
Dahlia Elsayed | Rob Good | Gonkar Gyatso | Emma Johnson | Jonathan Parsons |
Simon Patterson | Nigel Peake | Grayson Perry | Rob Ryan | Paula Scher | Justine Smith
| Susan Stockwell | Robert Walden | Stephen Walter | Heidi Whitman | Jeremy Wood |
Cai Yuan
Partnerships, Collaborations and Related Events
TAG is working in conjunction with a number of institutions, galleries and individuals:
The London Transport Museum is kindly loaning Simon Patterson’s ‘The Great Bear’ in
advance of its own major exhibition on underground mapping in 2012, for which they
have commissioned exhibiting artists Claire Brewster, Susan Stockwell, Stephen Walter and
Jeremy Wood.
www.ltmuseum.co.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/upcoming-exhibitions
The London Transport Museum is kindly loaning Simon Patterson’s ‘The Great Bear’ in
advance of its own major exhibition on underground mapping in 2012, for which they
have commissioned exhibiting artists Claire Brewster, Susan Stockwell, Stephen Walter and
Jeremy Wood. http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/upcoming-exhibitions
Stephen Walter’s London Series will also be exhibited at the National Trust’s Fenton House
(Hampstead) for the month of October.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-fentonhouse
TAG Fine Arts is an official supporter of the London Mapping Festival.
www.londonmappingfestival.org
Katharine Harmon will be contributing a foreword to the exhibition catalogue. A number
of exhibiting artists appear in her authoritative survey book ‘The Map as Art’ (New York:
Princeton Architectural Press, 2009)
Notes to Editors
A colour catalogue will accompany the exhibition.
A full list of all artists involved and exhibited works will be available from the end of May.
Individual artist biographies and images are also available on request.
All works, with the exception of Simon Patterson’s ‘The Great Bear,’ will be available for
sale from TAG Fine Arts. For all sales enquiries contact Hobby Limon.
TAG @ The Air Gallery
The Air Gallery is located at 32 Dover Street. The nearest underground stations are Green
Park (Piccadilly, Jubilee and Victoria Lines), Piccadilly Circus (Piccadilly and Bakerloo
Lines) and Bond Street (Jubilee and Central Lines). The nearest rail station is Charing Cross.
The exhibition will be open from 14 – 26 November 2011.
Opening Times: Monday – Friday, 10am – 6pm. Saturday, 11am – 4pm. Sunday, 12 – 4pm.
Admission free
About TAG Fine Arts
TAG Fine Arts is a contemporary art dealers and publishers based in London. Since 2007 it
has represented emerging and established artists through pop-up exhibitions and major
commissions. Stephen Walter’s extensive mapmaking project ‘The Island: London Series’
was published by TAG in 2008 and has since been acquired for significant public
collections including the V&A, British Library, Government Art Collection and London
Transport Museum. TAG’s most recent collaboration with the Air Gallery (November 2010)
was for Rob Ryan’s critically acclaimed, sell-out solo show, The Stars Shine All Day Too.
TAG is renowned for working with skilled printmakers to produce new editions, and their
expertise in the area is well suited to the tradition of artistic mapmaking. Fittingly, TAG is
launching The Art of Mapping in the same year that it goes international, opening an
office in New York City.
TAG will also be exhibiting new prints throughout the year at art fairs in the UK and abroad,
including Multiplied Contemporary Editions Fair (14 – 17 October at Christie’s South
Kensington) and the London Art Fair 2012. For more information about TAG Fine Arts visit
www.tagfinearts.com.
Contact
All press enquiries, high res images and further information:
Maggie Gray – Exhibitions Assistant, TAG Fine Arts
E: maggie@tagfinearts.com M: 07946 546 438
All sales enquiries:
Hobby Limon – Gallery Director, TAG Fine Arts
E: hobby@tagfinearts.com M: 07968 099 945
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