Sixteen artworks have sprung up across the UK for the fifth season of The Gallery, a project spearheaded by arts producer Artichoke in partnership with the out-of-home industry (which is behind the billboards and outdoor digital screens that traditionally show advertising). The Gallery aims to bring art that speaks to the biggest issues of our time to spaces where people travel, work and live, and organisers say it’s one of the world’s biggest public art exhibitions. This year it’s addressing the climate crisis.
Each work speaks to the theme “it’s not easy being green” – which is particularly pertinent in the lead up to the next UN climate change conference, Cop 30, in Brazil next month. The exhibition will also be on display in Brazil.
“The Gallery is focused on exploring the key issues of our time, and the climate crisis is one we’ve wanted to broach for a while,” curator Bakul Patki tells Broadsheet. “Conversations around climate have become increasingly polarised recently, so it felt important to try to bring some nuance back, by presenting work from different artists, with different experiences and different outlooks.”
Artists on show include leading British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare, photographer Hannah Starkey and Indigenous Brazilian non-binary artist Uýra Sodoma. Six works are new commissions, one is an open-source artwork and nine pieces have been selected from a call out which received 750 submissions. Once the exhibition is over, the works will be stored in an online archive on The Gallery’s website, with those from the past four seasons.
“By exhibiting on sites normally dedicated to advertising, The Gallery removes the barriers that often exist between the public and art, be they physical, financial, or perceived,” says Patki. “We’re able to reach many more people than traditional exhibitions or public arts projects and are uniquely placed to inspire these conversations at scale, within our huge audience.”
The Gallery shows on screens across the UK until November 3, and in Brazil from October 14–November 12.
