Invisible art, real money

by Caroline Jouinot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Hayward Gallery is expecting visitors to pay £8 for its latest exhibition featuring invisible works by Warhol and Klein.

Invisible: Art about the Unseen 1957-2012 is set to exhibit a range of 50 artworks from the past 50 years, including an invisible sculpture and invisible ink drawings by the likes of artists such as Andy Warhol and Gianni Motti.

In an ambitious effort to push the boundaries of modern art, the Hayward Gallery expects visitors to pay £8 for entry to explore the meaning behind 'emptiness' and the 'after life' in the first UK exhibition of its kind.

Exhibition curator Ralph Rugoff, who produced a similar display at the San Francisco Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts back in 2005, is convinced the exhibition will generate a new way to appreciate art, accessible to all.

"Unique experience"

"People will assume only art snobs will be able to get some meaning out of the works but it leaves so much to the imagination that each visitor will come out with a personal interpretation and unique experience,” he said.

"Art isn't only about materialism, and creativity starts in the artist's mind. Invisibility is at the core of the artist's creative process,” he added.

The show, which is part of the Southbank Centre Festival of the World and is scheduled to take place until early September, invites visitors to take part and observe an array of works bordering on the philosophical side of art, exercising the limits of our imagination.           

Klein, perhaps the first artist to explore the subject, in 1958 staged the first exhibition completely devoid of visible content.

Exhibition goers will be able to experience Tom Friedman's Untitled (A Curse), an empty space cursed by a witch, as well as a plinth on which Andy Warhol stepped on in 1985.

In the Void Room by French artist Yves Klein is a room painted entirely in white, while Magic Ink is a series of drawings made by Italian artist Gianni Motti using invisible ink.

While a number of students may be put off by the price Invisible is sure to attract curiosity: "It sounds very pretentious so I'll probably go. We need to get used to the fact modern art is constantly evolving,” BA Fine Art student, Rebecca Mills, 24, said.

The exhibition opens at the Hayward Gallery on Southbank on June 12, with £6 concession tickets available.

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Click Here for an article detailing exactly what the Arts London News' online editor thinks of paying £8 to see nothing. Make of it what you percieve it to mean.