White Chapel Gallery Reopening

London’s art world converged upon the all new Whitechapel Gallery last Saturday for the private view, ahead of their official reopening on Sunday 5th. jotta was there to enjoy the view.

The new building design is quite stunning, with plenty of natural light streaming through into open spaces. The new penthouse rooftop overlooking the city, was bustling with kids making cityscape inspired headwear in the craft workshop, and an elegant archive and library room below combines mid century modern wood furnishings with clever use of the original detailing, stained glass windows and fixtures.

To celebrate the a two-year refurbishment, (that cost almost $20 million), and expanded gallery space, curators took the opportunity to bring the galleries history, which places it as a trailblazer of Modernist art in London as far back as the 1890’s, together with some equally as challenging contemporary artists. The inaugural installation on the first floor, in place for 10 months, saw Turner Prize–nominated artist Goshka Macuga explore the history and movement of Picasso’s Guernica. The painting, which now hangs in Madrid’s Museo de Arte Reina Sofia museum, was brought to the Whitechapel in 1939 as a backdrop for an anti-Fascist rally during the Spanish Civil War, and Macuga wanted to revive that spirit.

Visitors stood bubbly in hand surrounding the large, circular U.N. style conference table, which through the duration of the 10 month residency will be available to book for meetings and discussions, as long as you don’t mind the public being privy to your discussions and the White Chapel recording it.

jotta will be there hosting seminars and interviews over the coming months, which will be filmed for the site!