Contemporary Collection Display: The Space Between at Tate Britain

In this suite of rooms are works by contemporary artists acquired by Tate in the last 20 years. They are in a range of media, but are displayed together because they share certain artistic concerns, particularly with the physical properties of materials. Painting, photography and film are all represented. The use of materials for sculpture is eclectic, ranging from the cellophane, ribbon and bath bombs in Karla Black’s work, the fabric and steel contrasted by Alice Channer, the contorted fluff-filled tights of Sarah Lucas to the found objects utilised by Lucy Skaer. In different ways the works on display reveal a preoccupation with the stability and instability of materials, and a desire to capture something before it disappears. By looking at both the object and the act of making, the figurative and the abstract, these artists are exploring the potential for new meanings to emerge in the space between image and material. As part of the ongoing Art Now series of contemporary projects, Becky Beasley’s The Outside 2012 is also on show.