Vulnerable Modernism 

Vulnerable Modernism

The erosion of public art since 1951 is the theme being addressed: the largest collection of sculpture and commemorative monuments in Britain is not well defined so the aim is to stimulate efforts to protect, conserve and communicate with a range of owners and users who need to be aware of their cultural assets as well as the associated risks.

Modern public art often falls outside schemes for official protection such as Listing [Designation] and, apart from the publications and database of the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association [PMSA], it remains an ill-defined field. Sufficient contextual knowledge exists to remedy a fissured cultural climate often dominated by subjective opinions.

Contributors to this symposium will provide abstracts in advance to encourage discussions which are hoped to lead to initiatives to readdress the extraordinary burgeoning and loss of public art since 1951.


CONTRIBUTORS

Roger Bowdler, Head of Designation, English Heritage: Pursuit of Special Interest: Designation and Outdoor Sculpture

Catherine Croft, Director of the Twentieth Century Society: Art and Architecture: Assessing and Preserving Twentieth Century Public Art.

Ian Leith, Deputy Chairman PMSA: Vulnerable Modernism: defining loss, erosion and invisibility in a national gallery of public art

Fran Lloyd, Professor & Associate Dean, Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture, Kingston University:
Historic Steps: Elizabeth Frink’s ‘Desert Quartet’ – a precedent for listing of public sculpture less than thirty years old?

Lynn Pearson, Editor, Journal of the Tile and Architectural Ceramics Society:
Variety and Abundance, Lost and Forgotten: The Fate of Postwar Murals

Dawn Pereira, MA University of East London: The Disappearing Legacy of William Mitchell’s Concrete Artworks
http://www.henry-moore.ac.uk