Output details

Forward Thinking 1976 – 2008 – A retrospective of Bainbridge’s work

Three new works, Flowers for Cologne (2008), The Tallest Sculpture in the World (Noilly Pratt) (2008), and Six Chinese Paintings (2008), were created as the most recent works exhibited in this solo, retrospective exhibition at mima - Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art. Bainbridge’s current research concerns the merging of the mundane with ideals of high modernism to be showcased, and contextualised. Invited to do a retrospective exhibition Bainbridge created three new pieces that enabled the curator, Gavin Delahunty (now at Tate) to meet the requirements of a retrospective viewpoint, whilst making the whole exhibition function as and feel like an exhibition of contemporary work. This was done to foreground the consistent impact of Bainbridge's work on the field.

The exhibition occupied all four ground floor spaces of the museum, the foyer space and one first floor gallery. 'This major solo exhibition combines selected pieces from the 1970s to the present and a unique collection of works on paper'. Together they allow a closer look at an artist who has continued to play an influential role in contemporary sculpture'.

The exhibition was supported mima, Arts Council England and the Henry Moore Foundation supporting the accompanying publication. 'Forward Thinking' (120 pages) continued the experimental theme of the exhibition, by commissioning contributions from artists, Wentworth, Barlow, Gander and Silver, writer Gronlund and curator Broeg. (ISBN: 0 86083 0772). The exhibition was widely reported in press and TV and previewed in The Guardian (Robert Clarke, 29/08/08) and reviewed in Frieze (J Griffin Nov 2008). The exhibition was followed by a six-page monograph in Frieze (J Griffin, Issue 123, May 2009). Griffin says 'Bainbridge's work has been hugely influential over the past three decades' 'it is perhaps not for formal reasons so much as it's deployment of humour as a weapon against itself'.