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The Artist and Public Sensibility: 1741 to 2013

17th October 2013 18:30 - 20:30

Art on the Underground and the Foundling Museum present

The Artist and Public Sensibility: 1741 to 2013

A panel discussion with Mark Wallinger, David Heathcote, Matilda Pye and Dr Jacqueline Riding

17th October 2013 18:30 - 20:30

Today, many Londoners take the city’s wealth of public art and philanthropic gestures for granted. Yet their relationship has a long and involved history. With the Foundling Museum as a setting, and in relation to Mark Wallinger’s 2013 Art on the Underground commission Labyrinth, this discussion takes up questions of what motivates art for the masses and its potential impact for social change.

From William Hogarth’s role in the establishment the Foundling Hospital, via the role of illustration in Victorian campaigns on the labour laws, through to the Tube, one of London’s most unifying and defining structures, the panel consider shifts in the reception of art in the public realm, the democratic impulse and shared experience.

Free but booking essential.

Speakers: Mark Wallinger, David Heathcote (cultural historian and broadcaster), Matilda Pye (V&A) and Dr Jacqueline Riding (historical consultant and author).
Venue: Foundling Museum, 40 Brunswick Square, London, WC1N 1AZ
Telephone: 020 7841 3600
Date: 17th October 2013 18:30 - 20:30
Nearest Tube: Russell Square

Click here to book a place at this event.

Mark Wallinger, one of the UK’s leading contemporary artists, has created a major new artwork for London Underground to celebrate its 150th anniversary. The result, commissioned by Art on the Underground, is Labyrinth; a multi-part work on a huge scale that is gradually being installed in every one of the Tube’s 270 stations. As part of Labyrinth, Art on the Underground presents a series of public events that explore the diverse themes running through the project including handmade crafts, mapping, journeys, networks and social change.

The Foundling Museum tells the story of the Foundling Hospital, which continues today as the children's charity Coram. The Museum has two principal collections, the Foundling Hospital Collection and the Gerald Coke Handel Collection. The Foundling Hospital Collection relates primarily to the history of the Foundling Hospital between its foundation in 1739 and its closure in 1954. The Collection includes significant paintings, sculpture, prints, manuscripts, furniture, clocks and historical documents.

Labyrinth events are presented by Art on the Underground in collaboration with many of London’s leading cultural organisations: Art Licks, the Foundling Museum, Institute of Contemporary Arts, South Bank Centre and the V&A.

Part of the Bloomsbury Festival.

For more details, click here to visit the Art on the Underground website.