Not an Archive

About

Not an Archive has been commissioned as part of the ongoing research by curator Emily Gray into their organisational history, and on the occassion of the New Contemporaries 70th anniversary. From post-WWII to the increasingly complex environment, New Contemporaries has been supporting artists through this transition by bringing them from across the UK to show work together. However, as said by Andrew Forge in his introduction in 1962, the resulting exhibition "is much more than the sum of its parts", yet the exploration of its history is extremely limited, with no archive or established resources through which to access the extent of this activity. 

As a new approach to regaining and uncovering this legacy, the artists have each explored the expanse and multiplicity of this history from their own unique perspectives and particular practices. Celia-Yunior reflect on the pressures of competing in an ever more populated field, while Suzanne van der Lingen examines the fragmented archival documentation, echoing the dispersal of these new contemporaries within the larger matrix of the arts in Britain. Kobby Adi, who was selected by Keith Piper for the 2019 exhibition, follows Piper through his archives from his participation as a ‘New Contemporary’ in 1986. Their work probes the lure of the archive, as compelling, and at times opaque, as New Contemporaries itself.