Radical Landscapes at Tate Liverpool

Maja Lorkowska, Exhibitions Editor
Hurvin Anderson, Double Grille, 2008 © Hurvin Anderson. All Rights Reserved, DACS/Artimage 2022
Hurvin Anderson, Double Grille, 2008 © Hurvin Anderson. All Rights Reserved, DACS/ Artimage 2022

Radical Landscapes at Tate Liverpool, Waterfront 5 May — 4 September 2022 Tickets from £5.00 — Book now

Tate Liverpool‘s brand new temporary exhibition Radical Landscapes delights with a fresh look at the subject of landscape, through the themes of trespass, land use, the climate emergency and mysticism.

Reflecting the diversity of Britain’s landscape and communities, the show features rural spaces as sites of artistic inspiration. Landscape may not seem like the obvious choice of subject matter for the most radical artists, yet Tate’s summer completely challenges the idea of the natural as an outdated topic.

Radical Landscapes includes over 150 works in the form of painting, photography, sculpture, video and others, touching on various concerns from the human impact on the ecosystem and reflections on the climate crisis, to land-related rituals, mysticism and questions about freedom of access to natural spaces. Yet, what most of the works have in common is that the landscape is often a background for the battles being fought within its context – it is people that are the key focus of Radical Landscapes at every turn. It’s a show filled with energy and slogans, reminding us that nature, its state and people’s access to it has always been a human and political issue.

Jeremy Deller, Cerne Abbas, 2019 © Courtesy the artist / The Modern Institute, Glasgow. Image courtesy of Jack Hems
Jeremy Deller, Cerne Abbas, 2019 © Courtesy the artist / The Modern Institute, Glasgow. Image courtesy of Jack Hems

 

One of the accompanying pieces of wall text in the show mentions “land as apparatus for investigating the structures of power” and this is a wonderful summary of the show. All of the discussions that the exhibition inspires involve power in one way or another, from trespassing as a form of revolt against the upper classes, to female artists revelling in the power of their femininity drawn directly from nature.

Ingrid Pollard, Oceans Apart, 1989. Tate © Ingrid Pollard. All Rights Reserved, DACS, 2022
Ingrid Pollard, Oceans Apart, 1989. Tate © Ingrid Pollard. All Rights Reserved, DACS, 2022

 

The artworks on display are many and varied, but the size of show means that there is something for everyone. There are works by the superstars of the art world such as Tacita Dean, Jeremy Deller and John Constable, as well as tiny gems by artist and gardener Charles Jones in the form of incredible, monochrome photographs of vegetables. You’ll also find an immersive installation, Back to the Fields (2015-2022) by Ruth Ewan which includes and entire room of plants, seeds and farming tools; and some very touching images in Ingrid Pollard’s series ‘Oceans Apart’ centring the experiences and representation of Black Caribbean subjects with the Atlantic Ocean as a site of arrival and departure.

The exhibition is complemented by a brand new publication, with contributions from environmentalists, writers and campaigners, as well as a public programme of events taking place within the gallery and across Liverpool.

Radical Landscapes at Tate Liverpool, Waterfront 5 May — 4 September 2022 Tickets from £5.00 Book now

Where to go near Radical Landscapes at Tate Liverpool

Albert Dock Liverpool
Waterfront
Gallery
Royal Albert Dock

Liverpool’s Albert Dock is a reliably great day or night out, and here’s what’s on offer there over the Christmas weeks.

Rosa's Thai Cafe
Liverpool
Restaurant
Rosa’s Thai Cafe

Rosa’s Thai Cafe is another great addition to Liverpool’s Royal Albert Dock, serving up delicious and authentic Thai food in stylish surroundings, with wonderfully charming staff.

The open kitchen at Lerpwl
Royal Albert Dock Liverpool
Restaurant
Lerpwl

The 80-cover restaurant is split across two levels with the main restaurant downstairs boasting an open kitchen; the best seat in the house is at the benches where you are almost nose to nose with the chefs as they prepare the food. 

Liverpool
Restaurant
Madre Liverpool

A smart, modern Mexican restaurant in Liverpool’s Albert Dock, with an extensive menu featuring showstopping dishes such as half a pig’s head and butterflied sea bass.

Wild Shore Liverpool
Liverpool
Tourist Attraction
Wild Shore Liverpool

Situated in the Royal Albert Dock this bonanza of slipping, sliding, clinging on for dear life and ultimately splashing into the water is riotous fun.

Waterfront
Gallery
RIBA North

RIBA North is the new national architecture centre on the Liverpool Waterfront.

What's on: Exhibitions

Culture Guides

Teenage Dads
Music in Manchester and the North

Fresh concert seasons, forward-thinking festivals and a revolving door of amazing gigs. Things are looking bright as spring comes into view.