The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery in

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...

on the north side of

Whitechapel High Street Whitechapel High Street is a street in the Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. It is about 0.2 miles (350 m) long, making it “one of the shortest high streets in London”. It links Aldgate High Street to the south-west with ...

, in the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, London borough covering much of the traditional East End of London, East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropol ...

. The original building, designed by

Charles Harrison Townsend Charles Harrison Townsend (13 May 1851 — 26 December 1928) was an English architect. He was born in Birkenhead, educated at Birkenhead School and articled to the Liverpool architect Walter Scott in 1870. He moved to London with his family in 1880 ...

, opened in 1901 as one of the first publicly funded galleries for temporary exhibitions in London. The building is a notable example of the British

Modern Style The Modern Style is a style of architecture, art, and design that first emerged in the United Kingdom in the mid-1880s. It is the first Art Nouveau style worldwide, and it represents the evolution of the Arts and Crafts movement which was native ...

. In 2009 the gallery approximately doubled in size by incorporating the adjacent former

Passmore Edwards John Passmore Edwards M.P. (24 March 1823 – 22 April 1911)ODNB article by A. J. A. Morris, 'Edwards, John Passmore (1823–1911)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 200 accessed 15 N ...

library building. It exhibits the work of contemporary artists and organizes retrospective exhibitions and other art shows.

History

The gallery exhibited

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

's ''

Guernica Guernica (, ), official name (reflecting the Basque language) Gernika (), is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the mu ...

'' in 1938 as part of a touring exhibition organised by

Roland Penrose Sir Roland Algernon Penrose (14 October 1900 – 23 April 1984) was an English artist, historian and poet. He was a major promoter and collector of modern art and an associate of the surrealists in the United Kingdom. During the Second World ...

to protest against the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. The gallery played a major role the history of post-war

British art The Art of the United Kingdom refers to all forms of visual art in or associated with the United Kingdom since the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 and encompasses English art, Scottish art, Welsh art and Irish art, and forms ...

by promoting the work of emerging artists. Several significant exhibitions were held at the Whitechapel Gallery including '' This is Tomorrow'' in 1956, the first UK exhibition by

Mark Rothko Mark Rothko (), born Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz (russian: Ма́ркус Я́ковлевич Ротко́вич, link=no, lv, Markuss Rotkovičs, link=no; name not Anglicized until 1940; September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970), was a Latv ...

in 1961, and in 1964, ''The New Generation'' show which featured

John Hoyland John Hoyland RA (12 October 1934 – 31 July 2011) was a London-based British artist. He was one of the country's leading abstract painters.

Bridget Riley Bridget Louise Riley (born 24 April 1931) is an English painter known for her op art paintings. She lives and works in London, Cornwall and the Vaucluse in France. Early life and education Riley was born on 24 April 1931 in Norwood, Londo ...

David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists o ...

and

Patrick Caulfield Patrick Joseph Caulfield, (29 January 1936 – 29 September 2005), was an English painter and printmaker known for his bold canvases, which often incorporated elements of photorealism within a pared-down scene. Examples of his work are ''Po ...

among others. Initiated by members of the Independent Group, the exhibition brought Pop Art to the general public as well as introducing some of the artists, concepts, designers and photographers that would define the Swinging Sixties. Throughout its history, the gallery had a series of open exhibitions that provided a platform for the area's artist community, but by the early 1990s these open shows became less relevant as emerging artists moved to other areas. In the late 1970s, the critical importance of the Whitechapel Gallery was displaced by newer venues such as the

Hayward Gallery The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre in central London, England and part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings (the R ...

, then in the 1980s it enjoyed a resurgence under the Directorship of

Nicholas Serota Sir Nicholas Andrew Serota, (born 27 April 1946) is an English art historian and curator, who served as the Director of the Tate from 1988 to 2017. He is currently Chair of Arts Council England, a role which he has held since February 2017. ...

. The gallery had a major refurbishment in 1986; and in 2009 expanded into the former

Library building next door. The expansion, which doubled the gallery's physical size and nearly tripled its available exhibition space, now allows the Whitechapel Gallery to remain open to the public all year round.

Notable exhibitions

*1908 – Muhammadan Art and Life in Turkey, Persia, Egypt, Morocco and India. Autumn Exhibition 23 October to 6 December. The opening day to the public was on 27th Ramadan. An advisory member was Syed Ameer Ali, who in 1910 was one of the main instigators of the London Mosque Fund, which went on to establish the nearby

East London Mosque The East London Mosque (ELM) is situated in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets between Whitechapel and Aldgate East. Combined with the adjoining London Muslim Centre and Maryam Centre, it is one of the largest mosques in Europe accommodating ...

. *1956 – This is Tomorrow exhibit *1958 – American abstract expressionist

Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He was widely noticed for his " drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household paint onto a hor ...

*1961 –

. The installation of his work at the Whitechapel becomes his template for all subsequent shows *1961 - Recent Australian painting, Whitechapel Gallery, London (including

John Olsen John Wayne Olsen, AO (born 7 June 1945) is a former Australian politician, diplomat and football commissioner. He was Premier of South Australia between 28 November 1996 and 22 October 2001. He is now President of the Federal Liberal Party, C ...

) *1964 – The New Generation – Painting – showcasing the work of

John Hoyland John Hoyland RA (12 October 1934 – 31 July 2011) was a London-based British artist. He was one of the country's leading abstract painters.

Paul Huxley Paul Huxley RA (born 12 May 1938) is a British painter. Biography Huxley was born in London. He attended Harrow School of Art from 1951 to 1956, and the Royal Academy Schools from 1956 to 1960. His first solo exhibition was in 1963 at the Row ...

, Alan Jones and

*1965 – The New Generation – Sculpture – showcasing the work of Philip King, David Annesley, Michael Bolus, Tim Scott, William Tucker,

Isaac Witkin Isaac Witkin (10 May 1936 – 23 April 2006) was an internationally renowned modern sculptor born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Witkin entered Saint Martin's School of Art in London in 1957 and studied under Sir Anthony Caro and alongside artis ...

*1970 and 1971 –

retrospective, first major shows of

Gilbert & George Gilbert Prousch, sometimes referred to as Gilbert Proesch (born 17 September 1943 in San Martin de Tor, Italy), and George Passmore (born 8 January 1942 in Plymouth, United Kingdom), are two artists who work together as the collaborative art d ...

and Richard Long *1982 –

Frida Kahlo Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by the country's popular culture, ...

*1986 Victor Willing, a retrospective exhibition *1993 – The Whitechapel Gallery showcases

Lucian Freud Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. He was born in Berlin, the son of Jewis ...

*2001 and 2002 –

Liam Gillick Liam Gillick (born 1964, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire) is a British artist who lives and works in New York City.

and

Nan Goldin Nancy Goldin (born September 12, 1953) is an American photographer and activist. Her work often explores LGBT subcultures, moments of intimacy, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and the opioid epidemic. Her most notable work is '' The Ballad of Sexual Depe ...

stage their first major solo shows in the UK *2008 –

Cornelia Parker Cornelia Ann Parker (born 14 July 1956) is an English visual artist, best known for her sculpture and installation art.Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is ...

*2009 – Retrospective of

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 ...

's work and solo shows for

Sophie Calle Sophie Calle (born 9 October 1953) is a French writer, photographer, installation artist, and conceptual artist. Calle's work is distinguished by its use of arbitrary sets of constraints, and evokes the French literary movement known as Oulipo. ...

and Elizabeth Peyton *2010 – Survey of Alice Neel's portraits in Britain *19–20 January 2011 the gallery hosted the inaugural

Northern Future Forum Northern Future Forum is an annual, informal meeting of prime ministers, policy innovators, entrepreneurs and business leaders from the 9 nations of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. ...

gathering of prime ministers. *2011 – First UK survey of German artist

Thomas Struth Thomas Struth (born 11 October 1954) is a German photographer who is best known for his ''Museum Photographs'' series, family portraits and black and white photographs of the streets of Düsseldorf and New York taken in the 1970s. Struth lives ...

, one of the photographers of the late 20th century *2012 – A comprehensive survey of

Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award) ...

winning British artist

Gillian Wearing Gillian Wearing CBE, RA (born 10 December 1963) is an English conceptual artist, one of the Young British Artists, and winner of the 1997 Turner Prize. In 2007 Wearing was elected as lifetime member of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. He ...

*2013 – The first major solo exhibition in London for YBA artist

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. ...

*2014 – Five decade survey of North American

Richard Tuttle Richard Dean Tuttle (born July 12, 1941) is an American postminimalist artist known for his small, casual, subtle, intimate works. His art makes use of scale and line. His works span a range of formats, from sculpture, painting, drawing, printma ...

, which was presented in conjunction with a major installation in

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is ...

's Turbine Hall and a solo show for

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

pioneer

Hannah Höch Hannah Höch (; 1 November 1889 – 31 May 1978) was a German Dada artist. She is best known for her work of the Weimar period, when she was one of the originators of photomontage. Photomontage, or fotomontage, is a type of collage in which the pa ...

*2015 – The first show in Britain on Arab Modernism "Imperfect Chronology: Arab Art from the Modern to the Contemporary", from the

Barjeel Art Foundation Barjeel Art Foundation is a non-profit arts organisation based in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The foundation was established in 2010 by Emirati commentator Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi to manage and exhibit his personal art collection. There are ov ...

collection *2016 – A new commission by feminist activism art group

Guerrilla Girls Guerrilla Girls is an anonymous group of feminist, female artists devoted to fighting sexism and racism within the art world. The group formed in New York City in 1985 with the mission of bringing gender and racial inequality into focus within t ...

and a major retrospective of British artist

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 ...

*2017 – A major retrospective of German artist

Thomas Ruff Thomas Ruff (born 10 February 1958) is a German photographer who lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany. He has been described as "a master of edited and reimagined images". Ruff shares a studio on Düsseldorf's Hansaallee, with fellow German ...

and solo show for British artist Benedict Drew *2018 – A solo show for

Mark Dion Mark Dion (born August 28, 1961) is an American conceptual artist best known for his use of scientific presentations in his installations. His work examines the manner in which prevalent ideologies and institutions influence our understanding ...

and the first major UK survey of artist duo

Elmgreen & Dragset Michael Elmgreen (born 1961; Copenhagen, Denmark) and Ingar Dragset (born 1969; Trondheim, Norway) have worked together as an artist duo since 1995. Their work explores the relationship between art, architecture and design. Elmgreen & Dragset liv ...

Education

Since 1923, the gallery has run a

not-for-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

educational charity, and has pioneered artists' residencies in schools and other education innovations that have been adopted as models across the UK and internationally. The current education programme focuses on four main areas: schools and teachers; children and families; youth; and community. Highlights include The NEON Curatorial Exchange, which is delivered in partnership with NEON Organisation in Athens. It builds links between emerging curators in the UK and Greece, so that best practice can be shared, and new ideas developed, with the aim of championing curatorial excellence. Since 2009, the gallery has invited a series of writers and artists to take up the position of Writer in Residence. The residency programme features discussions, performances and interventions, considering how writing is experienced through the lens of contemporary art.

Publications

In 2006, Whitechapel Gallery and MIT Press formed an editorial alliance to produce a new series of books entitled Documents of Contemporary Art.

Expansion

The Whitechapel reopened in April 2009 after a two-year project, which approximately doubled the size of the Gallery by incorporating the adjacent former

library building (vacated when Whitechapel Idea Store opened). The work cost approximately £13.5 million and was partly funded by the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

. A full-size tapestry based on Pablo Picasso's ''

'', by Jacqueline de la Baume Dürrbach and loaned from the

United Nations Art Collection The United Nations Art Collection is a collective group of artworks and historic objects donated as gifts to the United Nations by its member states, associations, or individuals. These artistic treasures and possessions, mostly in the form of “ ...

, was included in the inaugural exhibition by

Goshka Macuga Goshka Macuga (; born 1967 in Warsaw, Poland as Małgorzata Macuga) is an artist based in London. She was one of the four nominees for the 2008 Turner Prize. Life and work Goshka Macuga was born in Poland. A graduate of Central St. Martins Colle ...

. and

. As part of the expansion, a new Archive Gallery, a reading room and an archive repository (where the Whitechapel's historic records are held) have been created to support the Whitechapel's standing as an educational charity. The archives catalogue the very conception of the gallery, as well as the complete directors' files of correspondence which reveal the reasons behind key decisions in the Gallery's history.

Directors

Charles Aitken Charles Aitken (12 September 1869 – 9 August 1936) was a British art administrator and was the third Keeper of the Tate Gallery (1911–1917) and the first Director (1917–1930). Life and work Charles Aitken was born at Bisho ...

(1901–1911) * Hugh Scrutton (1945–1952) *

Bryan Robertson Bryan Robertson Order of the British Empire, OBE (1 April 1925 – 18 November 2002) was an English curator and arts manager described by ''Studio International'' as "the greatest Director the Tate Gallery never had". Biography Robertson was born ...

(1952–1968) * Mark Glazebrook (1969–1971) * Jenny Stein (1972–1974) *

Jasia Reichardt Jasia Reichardt (born 1933) is a British art critic, curator, art gallery director, teacher and prolific writer, specialist in the emergence of computer art. In 1968 she was curator of the landmark ''Cybernetic Serendipity'' exhibition at London's ...

(1974–1976) *

(1976–1988) * Catherine Lampert (1988–2002) *

Iwona Blazwick Iwona Maria Blazwick OBE (born 14 October 1955) is a British art critic and lecturer, and has been Director of the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London since 2001. She discovered Damien Hirst and staged his first solo show at a public London art ...

(2002–2022) * Gilane Tawadros (2022–Present)

References

External links

* * Greg Whitfield
Review of Janet Cardiff, George Bures Miller and Philip DiCorcia show at Whitechapel Art Gallery (June–August 2003)
''3:am Magazine''. Includes a good photograph of the Gallery interior. * Prince William opens Whitechapel Galler

* Alice Neel: Painted Truths Exhibition 2010
Exhibition Review
* Isa Genzken, first exhibition in the newly expanded Galler
Isa Genzken: Open Sesame
* Sophie Calle revie
Guardian Article
* Interview with Iwona Blaswic
Times Online
{{Authority control Education in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets History of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Contemporary art galleries in London Cultural infrastructure completed in 1901 Museums in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Art galleries established in 1901 1901 establishments in England Edwardian architecture in London Art Nouveau architecture in London Art Nouveau museum buildings Whitechapel