Anthea Hamilton lives and works in London.
THOMAS DANE GALLERY recently announced its representation of Anthea Hamilton. The British multidisciplinary artist, whose practice is defined by wit and rigor, was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2016. More recently, she was selected to present the 2018 Tate Britain Commission, which is currently on display at the museum.
“Over the past twelve years Hamilton has developed a highly individual and idiosyncratic language encompassing sculpture, photographic images and performance,” the gallery said in a statement. “Hamilton’s work is often the result of research into a diverse range of subjects and source materials, manifesting in objects that suggest themselves as theatrical sets, props, costumes or installations that place the viewer implicitly within the reading of the work.”
“[Anthea] Hamilton’s work is often the result of research into a diverse range of subjects and source materials, manifesting in objects that suggest themselves as theatrical sets, props, costumes or installations that place the viewer implicitly within the reading of the work.” — Thomas Dane Gallery
Hamilton is the first black female artist chosen for the Tate commission. “Anthea Hamilton: The Squash,” combines sculpture, costume and performance. The fascinating installation has transformed the grand space at the center of the museum. Inspired by a found photograph dating from 1960, the project involves a collaboration with a series of performers, seven custom-designed squash costumes, and 7,000 “domestic-scale” white tiles.
“The starting point of the work is a found image I’ve had for many years. It shows a person dressed in a costume like a squash, pumpkin or gourd. I no longer have the caption for it, so cannot trace it. It’s a wonderful mystery. I don’t know what the purpose of that image was, so the only way to get to know more about it was to try and make my own version of it,” Hamilton told British Vogue in March.
Her original interpretation of the image, which has been attributed to a dance scene by American choreographer Erick Hawkins, was presented at London’s Serpentine Galleries in 2016. “The Squash,” the artist’s more expansive vision, is on view at Tate Britain through October 2018.
HAMILTON, 39, lives and works in London. She studied at what is now Leeds Beckett University and the Royal College of Art. “Anthea Hamilton: Lichen! Libido! Chastity!” (2015) at the SculptureCenter in Long Island City, N.Y., was her first solo museum exhibition in the United States. Later this year, she will have a solo show at the Secession in Vienna, Austria (Sept. 14–Nov. 4, 2018).
Thomas Dane plans to present works by Hamilton at Frieze London in October 2018, and her first solo exhibition with the gallery opens in early 2019 in London.
In addition to Hamilton, London-based Thomas Dane, represents about 30 artists, including Terry Adkins, Hurvin Anderson, Glenn Ligon, and Steve McQueen. The gallery also operates a space in Naples, Italy. CT
TOP IMAGE: Portrait of Anthea Hamilton. | Photo by Valerie Sadoun, Courtesy Thomas Dane Gallery
BOOKSHELF
The institutions that hosted “Anthea Hamilton Reimagines Kettle’s Yard” and “Anthea Hamilton: Lichen! Libido! Chastity!” published catalogs to accompany the exhibitions.
ANTHEA HAMILTON, “Anthea Hamilton Reimagines Kettle’s Yard,” 2016, Installation view, The Hepworth Wakefield, Wakefield. | Courtesy the artist, Kettle’s Yard and The Hepworth Wakefield, Photo by Stuart Whipps
ANTHEA HAMILTON, “British Grasses Kimono,” 2015. | Courtesy the artist and Loewe Foundation, Photo by Martin Latham
ANTHEA HAMILTON, “Lichen! Libido! Chastity!,” 2015, Installation view, Anthea Hamilton: Lichen! Libido! Chastity!, SculptureCenter, NY, 2015. | Courtesy the Artist, Photo by Kyle Knodell
ANTHEA HAMILTON, “The Squash,” 2018, Installation View, Tate Britain. | Courtesy the Artist, Photo BY Seraphina Neville
ANTHEA HAMILTON, “The Squash,” 2018, Installation View, Tate Britain. | Courtesy the Artist, Photo BY Seraphina Neville
ANTHEA HAMILTON, “The Squash,” 2018, Installation View, Tate Britain. | Courtesy the Artist, Photo BY Seraphina Neville
In 2016, Anthea Hamilton “reimagined” Kettle’s Yard at the University of Cambridge. The exhibition was later installed at The Hepworth Wakefield, an art gallery in West Yorkshire, when Kettle’s Yard was undergoing renovation. | Video by Kettle’s Yard
