Firstsite is a visual arts organisation based in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, which opened in 2011. It was the national Art Fund's

Museum of the Year The Museum of the Year Award, formerly known as the Gulbenkian Prize and the Art Fund Prize, is an annual prize awarded to a museum or gallery in the United Kingdom for a "track record of imagination, innovation and excellence". The award of £ ...

in 2021. The building Firstsite occupy as tenants was designed by

Rafael Viñoly Rafael Viñoly Beceiro (born 1944) is a Uruguayan architect. He is the principal of Rafael Viñoly Architects, which he founded in 1983. The firm has offices in New York City, Palo Alto, London, Manchester, Abu Dhabi, and Buenos Aires. Viñ ...

and the freehold is retained by Colchester Council. The building is situated in Colchester's "Cultural Quarter" near

The Minories, Colchester The Minories is a Grade II listed building and gardens situated at the east end of High Street in Colchester, Essex, England, near Hollytrees, Gate House and Colchester Castle. It currently houses The Minories Galleries which are run by Colches ...

, fifteen Queen Street (a creative business hub), the Norman

Colchester Castle Colchester Castle is a Norman castle in Colchester, Essex, England, dating from the second half of the eleventh century. The keep of the castle is mostly intact and is the largest example of its kind anywhere in Europe, due to its being bui ...

, the Natural History Museum, Hollytrees Museum and Colchester's Roman Wall. Its exhibits are on a rolling six-monthly basis, starting with ''Camulodunum''. It cooperated with

Essex University The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the an ...

to show South American art until 2013. Firstsite has no permanent art collection of its own. It was awarded the national Art Fund

prize in 2021. Firstsite is a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...

under English law.

Exhibitions

* ''Camulodunum'' - artists including

Ai Weiwei Ai Weiwei (, ; born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been openly c ...

, Subodh Gupta,

Barbara Hepworth Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leadi ...

Sarah Lucas Sarah Lucas (born 1962) is an English artist. She is part of the generation of Young British Artists who emerged during the 1990s. Her works frequently employ visual puns and bawdy humour by incorporating photography, collage and found objects. ...

Aleksandra Mir Aleksandra Mir (born 1967) is a Swedish-American contemporary artist known for her collaborative installations and projects. Her work deals with travel, time, placehood, language, gender, identity, locality, nationality, globality, mobility, con ...

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi- abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Moore produced ...

Grayson Perry Grayson Perry (born 1960) is an English contemporary artist, writer and broadcaster. He is known for his ceramic vases, tapestries, and cross-dressing, as well as his observations of the contemporary arts scene, and for dissecting British "pre ...

Robert Smithson Robert Smithson (January 2, 1938 – July 20, 1973) was an American artist known for sculpture and land art who often used drawing and photography in relation to the spatial arts. His work has been internationally exhibited in galleries and m ...

, J. M. W. Turner,

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

Rebecca Warren Rebecca Jane Warren (born 1965) is a British visual artist and sculptor,"Rebecca Warren RA"
Royal Aca ...

and

Bill Woodrow Bill Woodrow (born 1 November 1948) is a British sculptor. Early years and education Bill Woodrow was born on 1 November 1948 near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. He received his education at the Winchester College of Art (1967–1968), the Ce ...

, 30 September 2011 - 15 January 2012. * ''Steven Claydon: Culpable Earth'' –

Steven Claydon Steven Claydon (born 1969) is a sculptor and musician based in London. Claydon was born in London. He has performed and shown work internationally in exhibitions at Tate Modern in London, Art Basel in Switzerland, in Düsseldorf and Portikus in ...

, 4 February - 7 May 2012. * ''Equivalents'' –

Carl Andre Carl Andre (born September 16, 1935) is an American minimalist artist recognized for his ordered linear and grid format sculptures and for the suspected murder of contemporary and wife, Ana Mendieta. His sculptures range from large public art ...

John Constable John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romanticism, Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedha ...

. * ''News from Nowhere'' - artists including

Lynda Benglis Lynda Benglis (born October 25, 1941) is an American sculptor and visual artist known especially for her wax paintings and poured latex sculptures. She maintains residences in New York City, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Kastellorizo, Greece, and Ahmedaba ...

Lygia Clark Lygia Pimentel Lins (23 October 1920 – 25 April 1988), better known as Lygia Clark, was a Brazilian artist best known for her painting and installation work. She was often associated with the Brazilian Constructivist movements of the mid-20t ...

, Richard Deacon,

Naum Gabo Naum Gabo, born Naum Neemia Pevsner (23 August 1977) (Hebrew: נחום נחמיה פבזנר), was an influential sculptor, theorist, and key figure in Russia's post-Revolution avant-garde and the subsequent development of twentieth-century scul ...

Isa Genzken Isa Genzken (born 27 November 1948) is a German artist who lives and works in Berlin. Her primary media are sculpture and installation, using a wide variety of materials, including concrete, plaster, wood and textile. She also works with photograp ...

Roger Hiorns Roger Hiorns (born 1975) is a British Contemporary artist based in London. His primary media is sculpture and installation, using a wide variety of materials, including metals, wood and plastics. He also works in the media of video and photograp ...

Nam June Paik Nam June Paik (; July 20, 1932 – January 29, 2006) was a Korean American artist. He worked with a variety of media and is considered to be the founder of video art. He is credited with the first use (1974) of the term "electronic super hi ...

László Moholy-Nagy László Moholy-Nagy (; ; born László Weisz; July 20, 1895 – November 24, 1946) was a Hungarian painter and photographer as well as a professor in the Bauhaus school. He was highly influenced by constructivism and a strong advocate of the i ...

, John McCracken,

Eduardo Paolozzi Sir Eduardo Luigi Paolozzi (, ; 7 March 1924 – 22 April 2005) was a Scottish artist, known for his sculpture and graphic works. He is widely considered to be one of the pioneers of pop art. Early years Eduardo Paolozzi was born on 7 March 1 ...

, Mark Titchner and

Paul Thek Paul Thek (November 2, 1933 – August 10, 1988) was an American painter, sculptor and installation artist. Thek was active in both the United States and Europe, exhibiting several installations and sculptural works over the course of his life. Po ...

, 20 May - 27 August 2012. * ''Anthea Hamilton: Sorry I'm Late'' –

Anthea Hamilton Anthea Hamilton (born 1978) is a British artist who graduated from the Royal College of Art and was one of four shortlisted for the 2016 Turner Prize and responsible for the show's most popular exhibit, Project For Door. She is known for creatin ...

, 8 September 2012 - 25 November 2012. * ''Painting, Collage, Film'' –

Humphrey Jennings Frank Humphrey Sinkler Jennings (19 August 1907 – 24 September 1950) was an English documentary filmmaker and one of the founders of the Mass Observation organisation. Jennings was described by film critic and director Lindsay Anderson in 195 ...

, 8 September 2012 - 25 November 2012. * ''

Hammer Prints Limited Hammer Prints Limited was a company founded in 1954 by Nigel Henderson and Eduardo Paolozzi. History Founded on 5 August 1954, Hammer Prints Ltd was established: "To purchase, sell, manufacture, hire or act as agents for the sale of textile ...

1954 - 1975'' –

Nigel Henderson Admiral Sir Nigel Stuart Henderson, (1 August 1909 – 2 August 1993) was a Royal Navy officer who served as Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from 1968 to 1971. Naval career Henderson joined the Royal Navy in 1927.

, 8 January - 3 March 2013. * ''The Sea (Paintings of the North Norfolk Coast)'' – John Virtue, 13 June 2015 - 20 September 2015. * ''Assembled Paintings and Drawings'' – Chris Seaber, 6 September 2015 - 29 November 2015. * ''The Firstsite Open Art Exhibition'' – Local Art Open Exhibition 2015. * ''Wood to Water'' – James Dodds, 12 December 2015 - 14 February 2016. * ''70 Years of Colchester Art Society'' - artists include

Cedric Morris Sir Cedric Lockwood Morris, 9th Baronet (11 December 1889 – 8 February 1982) was a British artist, art teacher and plantsman. He was born in Swansea in South Wales, but worked mainly in East Anglia. As an artist he is best known for his portra ...

, John Nash, Simon Carter and Valerie Thornton. * ''Introspective'' –

Gee Vaucher Gee Vaucher (born 1945 in Dagenham, Essex, England) is a visual artist. Biography Vaucher met her long-lasting creative partner Penny Rimbaud in the early 1960s when both were attending the South-East Essex Technical College and School of Ar ...

. * ''Ed Gold: Other Worlds'' – Ed Gold, June - September 2017. * Lubaina Himid: Warp and Weft –

Lubaina Himid Lubaina Himid (born 1954) is a British artist and curator. She is a professor of contemporary art at the University of Central Lancashire.Grayson Perry Grayson Perry (born 1960) is an English contemporary artist, writer and broadcaster. He is known for his ceramic vases, tapestries, and cross-dressing, as well as his observations of the contemporary arts scene, and for dissecting British "pre ...

, 18 November 2017 - 18 February 2018. *''Power for the People'' – Rose Finn-Kelcey, December 2017 - March 2018. *''Life with Art:

Benton End Benton End is a Grade II* listed sixteenth-century house located on the outskirts of the market town of Hadleigh in Suffolk, England. From 1939 to 1982 it was home to the artist Cedric Morris, who ran the East Anglian School of Painting and Draw ...

and the

East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing The East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing was an art learning environment established by Cedric Morris and Arthur Lett-Haines in East Anglia in 1937. It was run on very idiosyncratic lines based upon the ''"free rein"'' approach that was the ...

'', 11 December 2021 - 18 April 2022. *Denis Wirth-Miller: Landscapes and Beasts – Denis Wirth-Miller, 1 October 2022 - 22 January 2023. *Reena Saini Kallat: Leaking Lines –

Reena Saini Kallat Reena Saini Kallat (born 1973) is an Indian visual artist. She currently lives and works in Mumbai. * ''Hybridizing Earth, Discussing Multitude, 10th Busan Biennale, curated by Cheagab Yun'', Kiswire Suyeong factory, Busan, South Korea (2016) * ...

, 15 Oct 2022 - 16 Apr 2023.

Critical appraisal

The gallery's opening received a considerable evaluation in the press. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' criticized the sloping walls and the architect, Viñoly. It also examined it in terms of the economic expectations towards it and in comparison with other regional galleries. However, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' praised the inaugural exhibition ''Camulodunum.'' ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' has criticized the expense of the project, which cost £25,542,701 to build, and also highlighted concerns that more than half of its 147,000 annual visitors only entered to use the lavatory. In 2015 Firstsite had its status as an Arts Council funded National Portfolio Organisation withdrawn. The Arts Council consequently reduced their annual subsidy to Firstsite by £10 per year from £814,527 to £814,517. In February 2018 it was announced that Firstsite had returned to Arts Council 'National Portfolio Organisation' status despite having only recorded 131,663 visitors in the previous year and having made a loss of £243,000. The return to 'National Portfolio Organisation' status for Firstsite saw an increase in funding of £5 per year, to £814,512 per year, secured for four years. On 22 March 2018 it was announced Dr Noorzaman Rashid, Robert Surnam and Helen Organ resigned from their roles as trustees at Firstsite. In 2021,

was invited to submit a piece for the virtual UK art exhibition ''The Great Big Art Exhibition'', which was organised by Firstsite. Ai's piece, called ''Postcard for Political Prisoners'', incorporated a photograph of the running machine used by Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy. After initially accepting Ai's idea, Firstsite's director said that it could not include his project "due to time constraints, and because it did not fit with the concept of the exhibition". Ai said he thought the reason for the rejection was that the exhibition did not "want to touch on a topic like Assange".

References

External links

*
Colchester Borough Council webpage
{{authority control Art museums established in 2011 Arts centres in England Contemporary art galleries in England Buildings and structures in Colchester (town) 2011 establishments in England Art museums and galleries in Essex Charities based in England

Exhibitions

Critical appraisal

See also

References

External links