ICA Celebrate Their 70th Anniversary With Programme Of Multidisciplinary Experimentation

ICA

The ICA have announced their artistic programme for 2016, its 70th anniversary year, which highlights the importance of the arts in experimenting with new ways of thinking, making and inhabiting a rapidly changing world. Reflecting the ICA’s original mission to encompass a range of art forms including art, performance, music and film and respond to the most pressing concerns of today, the 2016 programme looks back to seminal moments in history as well as to the future. Highlights of the 2016 programme include:

Major solo presentations by leading international contemporary artists from various disciplines: artist Betty Woodman, who has worked with ceramics since the 1950s; sound and video artist James Richard; sculpture and video artist Guan Xiao; and British stylist and accessories designer, Judy Blame.

A celebration of the 40th anniversary of Punk with a presentation of the album designs of punk band Public Image Limited.

An independent cinema programme which includes the third iteration of the highly-acclaimed Artists Film Biennial and a growing music programme with partners such as NTS Radio, Warp Records, PAN, Just Jam, Thirty Three Thirty Three & Nawa Recordings.

A talks programme which will explore the impact of mass digital culture on society, as well as issues around gender, urbanism and new materialism.

A programme for the Fox Reading Room, that responds to important events of recent cultural and social history.

To begin the year, the ICA welcomes the first solo UK presentation by Betty Woodman (b.1930) (3 February – 10 April 2016). Woodman, who lives and works in New York and Antella, Italy, is one of the most important artists working with ceramics since the 1950s. The ICA exhibition will focus on innovative directions in her practice over the last decade, in which she combines ceramics with painting and other media.

In April we present a solo project with Chinese artist Guan Xiao (b.1983) (20 April – 19 June). Working mainly in sculpture and video, Guan Xiao explores how ways of seeing are now influenced by digital image circulation as an increasingly dominant source of knowledge and information exchange.

During the Summer, the ICA presents the first solo exhibition with British stylist and accessories designer, Judy Blame (b.1960) (29 June – 11 September), revealing his distinct make-do-and-mend aesthetic that made him a key part of the Punk movement and subsequent 80s club scene, acknowledging him as one of the most influential designers today.

In September, the ICA presents a major solo exhibition with artist James Richards (b. 1983) (21 September – 20 November), recognising the significance of his unique approach to sound and video work amongst a generation of British artists.

In its Fox Reading Room, the ICA continues to highlight important moments and events in post-war social and cultural history, uncovering unseen material and enabling further discussion around under- recognized protagonists and movements. Art into Society – Society into Art: Seven German Artists (19 January – 6 March) will document the seminal 1974 ICA exhibition of the same name. Organised by ICA Curator Norman Rosenthal and German art dealer Christos M. Joachimides, this exhibition sought to engage with ideas around the relationship between art and politics emerging from West Germany at that time.

Further Fox Reading Room displays include PIL: METAL BOX (22 March – 17 May) when the ICA will celebrate the 40th anniversary of punk with the through a focussed look at the original design by Dennis Morris for the Public Image Limited (P.I.L)’s logo and albums, in particular Metal Box. Detroit: City of Techno (26 July – 2 October) takes a studied look at Detroit in the late 1970s and 1980s and the musical and environmental influences behind its early experiments with techno.

Through its Cinema programme, the ICA remains one of the leading venues for independent film making and artist’s moving image. 2016 welcomes the third iteration of the ICA’s Artists Film Biennial (2 – 5 June), a four-day celebration of the latest in artist’s film.

Building upon recent innovations in ICA’s music programme and the success of Zhang Ding’s Enter the Dragon, we continue to partner with the most forward thinking partners in the industry such as NTS Radio, Warp Records, PAN, Thirty Three Thirty Three & Nawa Recordings to present unique events that highlight the intersection between experimental music, sound and visual culture. This event programme will be further extended through talks and film screenings.

We will continue to profile the latest in performance working with artists and other practitioners to premier unique events at the ICA. This includes collaborating with the ICA’s Associate Poet, Kayo Chingonyi to programme a series of spoken word events in Spring 2016.

Later in the year, we welcome back Artist’s Self-Publishing Fair (ASP), giving our audience the opportunity to meet and purchase published works directly from their producers.

Following the success of our talks summit, Fear of Missing out in May this year, the ICA’s talks programme will focus on questions around urbanism and new materialism as well as continue to engage with the latest thinkers and writers exploring the impact of technological advances. Another key focus continues to be gender issues in relation to contemporary society and culture.

The ICA learning programme is currently aimed at students 16 years + at A level, Foundation, BA, MA, Post Graduate and Research level. Our Learning programme seeks to maintain a historical close engagement between the ICA and young and emerging thinkers and practitioners. STOP PLAY RECORD, our initiative for young people aged 16-24, boasts a series of screenings, talks, workshops and practical sessions, helping emerging talent access a range of expert-led opportunities to establish and develop their skills. From January—March 2016 young people based in London will be able to apply to develop a film to completion in partnership with Bloomberg New Contemporaries, the Chisenhale Gallery, DAZED, Kingston University and SPACE who will provide a range of activities across the capital. 

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