The exhibition | Tate's "Radical Landscape", which is not just an expression of traditional landscape

In traditional English painting, landscape paintings are rural background images provided by artists such as Gainsborough, Constabour or Turner. As the times progressed, artists began to use expressions of the rural environment to counter the use and misuse of land, as well as discrimination.

Recently, the exhibition "Radical Landscapes" opened at Tate Liverpool, UK. From traditional landscape paintings to photography and installations, this exhibition uses the landscape as an entry point to capture the rebellious spirit of the artists.

What is landscape art? This concept was clear in the past, and in traditional English painting it was the rural background image provided by artists such as Gainsborough, Constabeuer or Turner. Dating from their time to the present, it also includes a range of artists such as Paul Nash and Eric Raveles. Entering the 20th century, it was widely believed that this tradition, especially the masterpieces of landscape painting of the 18th and 19th centuries, represented a certain safe, fixed and broad way of reflecting natural things.

Recently, the exhibition "Radical Landscapes" opened at the Tate Liverpool In the Uk. As its title suggests, the exhibition presents an extended and inclusive view of landscape art. The exhibition presents portraits including Gainsborough's mansion for the Andrews couple in 1750. But at the same time, the exhibition also presents a critique of the painting by John Berger in his 1972 film The Way to See.

Gainsborough, The Andrews, 1750

Essentially, Berg's view is that the painting does not present a simple wedding celebration, but the cornfield that accompanies the painting symbolizes fertile land, which is also a naked celebration of the Andrews couple's property and private land. At the same time, it is also a statement about who can access the work and who cannot. As Berger says, the painting was created in an era when potatoes were publicly whipped and sentenced to deportation.

This spirit of questioning land ownership, tenure and access rights was the inspiration for the exhibition. Originally, the exhibition was conceived in the context of the Brexit debate about identity, belonging and "taking back control". Curator Darren Pih was interested in the concept of thresholds and borders, as well as in the reality that large areas of Britain were barred from entering for a variety of reasons. These include private ownership, militarization and discrimination.

After the pandemic was postponed, the exhibition evolved to examine our relationship to the land through shots of pandemics, climate crises and nuclear threats, as well as emotional connections to rural landscapes. The links between land tenure rights and class, race, gender and disability are also explored in the specific context of radicalism and protest.

Constabeuer, Flatford Mill, 1816–1817

The extensive exhibition consists of more than 150 works, most of which are from the Tate Collection and some of which are on loan. The exhibition is surprising and varied. On the side of a banner in the 1980s Greenham Commons, we can see Constabour's elaborate depiction of the Flatford Mill. Claude Cahun's surrealist photograph is of a pair of arms protruding from a boulder. The exhibition includes stories about the frugal community life of gypsies and Peter Kennard's montage Haywain with Cruise Missiles.

Claude Cajon," Surreal Stone

Peter Kennard, Haywain with Cruise Missiles

Curator Darren said, "Wanted to explore why we have such an emotional attachment to the land, why we protest when we see the land threatened." "While the exhibition is intended to pay homage to Scotland's history, the real historical and political starting point is the aimless invasion movement of the early last century. In 1932, under the leadership of wanderers and young communists, the massive Kinder Scouts invaded the Darbyshire Peak district. Eventually Britain established national parks.

Photos of the Battle of Doutian

Although these large-scale incursions clearly originated from earlier rural protests, these large-scale incursions became primarily attempts by the urban working class to acquire land during a significant period of pollution and limited access to green space, but with increased health concerns. The exhibition features news photographs from the 1930s. Half a century later, Alan Lodge took a set of photographs documenting a standoff between a group of New Age travelers and police officers who traveled to Stonehenge Freedom Festival in 1985, known as the Battle of the Beanfield, and the photos illustrate how the story continues.

The visual focal point of the Battle of Doutian was Stonehenge. Artists such as Ravilious, Henry Moore, tacita Dean and others were drawn to the topography in Stonehenge, ancient oak trees, and other symbolic landscapes. Jeremy Deller, who made the film about the Megalithic Pillar, appeared in the exhibition hall alongside Cerne Abbas's neon giant, and the latter's smiley house made of straw. Darren said, "The beauty of these works is that there is a sense of shared ownership both physically and conceptually. They are like a huge silent mirror of Britain. Whatever you think of yourself or your country and humanity, you can project them onto these structures. For me, Stonehenge is the most modern building in the UK because new stories happen every week. ”

Sain Abbas, Neon Giants, 2019

A large gathering in Castlemoreton

After the Battle of Doutian, the controversial mass rallying place shifted to the scene of a booming carnival. In 1992, there was a large unauthorized rally in Castlemorton. The exhibition also presents video footage of carnival. This incident indirectly led to the passage of criminal and judicial bills that changed civil liberties. But the legal battle over disputed locations and access is just one way to limit who can or should occupy those spaces. The exhibition extensively explores issues such as discrimination and exclusion.

John Nash, The Cornfield, 1918

Ingrid Pollard's work has long revealed what is hidden in traditional landscape painting, namely the absence of a black figure. She evokes colonial themes through her photography of the family. The film by the group "Project Art Works" explores another group that is often excluded from traditional landscape narratives. On a journey to the remote Scottish Gorges, the group follows a group of neurodiversed artists (including autism, language dysfunction, etc.) focusing on their families and lives. It also expands again the view of who has the right to enjoy the countryside.

Ingrid Pollard, Oceans Apart, 1989

To enter the natural world, then the world needs to be pampered. The environmental crisis presented in the exhibition includes the latest installation by gypsy artist Delaine Le Bas. It is worth mentioning that the gypsy cultural heritage is another marginalized community that is often missing in the history of the landscape. In her work Beautiful Water, landscape images give an artistic feel, but at the same time, the project is also related to climate change. Le Bass's grandmother always told her to protect precious water resources as part of a nomadic life. It's a way of life that values precious natural resources and another way of thinking about who the activists are. Darren said.

Davinia-Ann Robinson installation

Other large-scale installations include Davinia-Ann Robinson's latest commission. She uses recycled soil to comment on land art and colonialism. Ruth Ewan's Back to the Fields reconstructs the French republican calendar used from 1793 to 1805, including plants and objects from the natural world and rural life, with twines, goat skulls, and a tree representing a day. It symbolizes the return of land to the people. It was also a fascinating challenge for Tate's curators, who had to take good care of the plants during the exhibition period.

Ruth Ivan, Back to the Fields, 2015

In terms of the climate crisis, Gustav Metzger, now seen as a pioneer in environmental art, is a key figure in the exhibition. Metzger took a striking, large photograph in 1998. In the photo, the M3 sculpture passes through Twyford Down in Hampshire, surrounded by bulldozer tracks. In 1939, at the age of 13, Metzger was sent from Germany to England, where most of his immediate family members were killed in the Holocaust. The incident strongly influenced his fears that technology could bring environmental destruction.

Derek Jarman's Garden

The exhibition is a good illustration of the endless complexity and interconnectedness of issues related to land and landscape. Surprisingly, Derek Jarman is one of the artists who can cross boundaries the most. He works in the Seaside Garden Prospect Cottage in Dundeness, Kent, and his work includes photography, painting and video. His artistic trajectory seems particularly suited to an exhibition in which activism and rebellious spirit are intrinsic components of the relationship between nature and art.

In the seventies, Derek Jarman created works in response to the Avebury Tombs and their monuments, and then he began to play a more active public role in criticizing Thatcherism. When he was diagnosed with AIDS, he returned to his hut and enjoyed nature's healing and regenerative abilities. There he created his famous garden. In his philosophy, the public environment and beauty itself are a useful example.

The exhibition will be on view until September 4.

(This article is compiled from The Guardian, by Nicholas Wroe, a commentator)