Output details

‘The Dark Monarch: Magic and Modernity in British Art’. Incorporating co-curated exhibition, edited publication and authored chapter. Publication: Rowlands, A., Bracewell, B. & Clark, M. eds. The Dark Monarch: Magic & Modernity in British Art Tate Publishing, 2009 pp.175; 75 colour and 40 black-and-white illustrations; 230 x 170mm ISBN 978-1-85437-874-3. Authored chapter: Rowlands, A., The Numinous and the Luminous. In: ‘The Dark Monarch’ eds. Rowlands, A., Bracewell, B. & Clark, M, Tate Publishing, 2009, p. xxi – xxxiii. ISBN 978-1-85437-874-3

Following the invitation to co-curate an exhibition at Tate St Ives, with Martin Clark (Artistic Director at Tate St Ives) and Michael Bracewell (cultural historian), Rowlands conducted extensive research in the Tate archives, national museums, private and public collections and archives. This research identified new ways of navigating the collections at St Ives, distinct from the traditional, largely formal, art historical associations routinely drawn between the collection and the narratives of British Modernism. The work developed under-researched connections between canonical works in the collection (for instance Moore and Hepworth) and the shadow of modernism namely theosophy, magic and the occult, visible in the pagan prehistory and myths of Cornwall. This research informed the curatorial strategy of the exhibition that involved a thematic as opposed to historical organization tracing the development of early British Modernism in relation to the reappearance of esoteric and arcane references in a significant strand of contemporary art practice. Historical works from Palmer, Sutherland, Moore and Nash were shown alongside contemporary artists including Jarman, Wyn Evans, Rothschild, Linder and Russell. The exhibition included twelve newly commissioned works, a series of performance events and a conference convened by Rowlands. As well as curating the exhibition, Rowlands edited the 300 page publication (including 20 commissioned texts and four re-published ‘out of print’ essays). The book examines magic as a counterpoint to modernity’s transparency and rational progress, draws out the links modernity has with notions such as fetishism, taboo, and the votive. Often viewed as counter to Modernism, this collection of essays suggests that these products of illusion and delusion in fact belong to modernity. In his own chapter, using the examples of artworks in the exhibition, Rowlands examines the tension between progressive modernity and romantic knowledge. The exhibition was widely reviewed including the Guardian, Independent and Frieze.