London's Institute of Contemporary Arts will return to occupy its former address in the
heart of Mayfair at 17-18 Dover Street next week as part of its ICA Off-Site
programme. Following on from the success of its large-scale occupation in The
Old Selfridges Hotel with the exhibition A Journey through London Subcultures:
1980s to Now last year (London Underground, November 2013), the ICA will present rarely seen
archival material in a temporary exhibition where the fashion retail store Dover Street Market now
resides.
Before its
relocation to its present premises on The Mall, Dover Street staged some of the
ICA’s most important exhibitions in post-war British art. Between 1950 and 1968,
seminal art activity conducted by the Independent Group took place at the ICA
and brought together critical debate from the areas of art, architecture and
theory. Pop Art and Op Art movements as well as a catalogue of exhibitions by
Bacon, Freud, Pollock and Picasso earned the ICA its status as a pioneering art
destination. Appropriately, Dover Street Market London and its outposts around the world have become destinations for not
only innovative fashion but for the seasonal art collaborations curated by
its founder Rei Kawakubo who invites international artists to work with the
conceptual in-store spaces. ICA Off-Site: Dover Street
Market will feature interior and exterior installations across all six floors of the fashion
emporium, in conjunction with the publication Institute of Contemporary Arts:
1946-1968, which will examine this remarkable period of art activity and the
origins of a British institution.
The project and
publication coincides with the upcoming exhibition at The Mall of the late British Pop
artist and original member of the Independent Group, Richard Hamilton whose work and
career is inextricably linked to the ICA’s history. Tate Modern will
also be honouring Hamilton with a retrospective documenting a celebrated career
over 60 years later this month.
ICA Off-Site:
Dover Street Market opens to the public on 11th February and runs through to
6th April 2014 – for further information visit ICA Off-Site.
View last year's A Journey through London Subcultures: 1980s to Now on the
blog here.
ICA Off-Site:
Dover Street Market
11th February - 6th April 2014
17-18 Dover
Street
London
W1S 4LT
Richard Hamilton at the ICA
12th February - 6th April 2014
12 Carlton House Terrace
London
SW1Y 5AH
