The second in our series of short films exploring exhibitions across our four National Partner venues is now online.
Produced alongside Yorkshire Sculpture Park's Revolt & Revolutions exhibition, the latest film explores Steve Johnston’s Arts Council Collection work, Punk Portraits (1977), which provided inspiration for a series of new poetry commissions by Wakefield-born performance poet Matt Abbott.
‘I was immediately drawn to the Punk Portraits by Steve Johnston. As soon as I saw them, I knew I wanted to write about them, because obviously they’ve got such a striking visual identity.’
Matt Abbott - Poet and Activist
Abbott was commissioned to develop new poetry in response to the artwork and themes in the exhibition. This film documents the poet’s response to the commission alongside contributions from Yorkshire Sculpture Park Senior Curator, Helen Pheby and Family Learning Coordinator, Emma Spencer.
About Revolt & Revolutions
Creativity has long been associated with vanguard ideas: art and music can give a voice to the unheard, power to the vulnerable and celebrate the human capacity for positive action, even in adversity.
The works in this exhibition, drawn primarily from the Arts Council Collection, give insight into some of the counter-culture and anti-establishment movements of recent decades alongside work by artists who seek to make a difference, helping to suggest ways that we might contribute to change on an individual, community and even global level. Works include Susan Philipsz’ version of the rousing anthem The Internationale (1999), broadcast across the Bothy Garden landscape and A Jukebox of People Trying to Change the World (2003–) by Ruth Ewan which welcomes visitors into the gallery space.
About the Store to Tour series
Store to Tour is a new series of short films produced to celebrate our National Partners Programme, which brings together four major galleries and museums to create collaborative exhibitions and events and providing a permanent home for ACC works between April 2016 and June 2019.
The further two films will focus on exhibitions at Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne and Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and will be produced between now and late 2018.
Revolt & Revolutions showed at the Bothy Gallery at Yorkshire Sculpture Park from 6 January - 15 April 2018.
Find out more about the National Partners Programme
The Arts Council Collection is the UK's most widely seen collection of modern and contemporary art.
With more than 8,000 works by over 2,000 artists, it can be seen in exhibitions and public displays across the country and beyond. This website offers unprecedented access to the Collection, and information about each work can be found on this site.
