On the Move: Visualising Action

January 13 – April 18, 2010
Estorick Collection, London
Curated by Jonathon Miller

Although the problem of depicting movement in painting and sculpture had concerned artists for many centuries, the birth of the Futurist movement in 1909 signalled a renewed interest in the subject. Taking as its starting point the Estorick’s own collection of Futurist masterpieces, On the Move draws on a wide range of material in many different media to provide an in-depth examination of this complex and fascinating theme.

Many of Futurism’s pictorial innovations were in fact built on foundations laid during the nineteenth century, when the emerging medium of photography began to reveal previously unseen aspects of reality. The pioneering research of Eadweard Muybridge and Etienne-Jules Marey was of particular importance in this respect. While Muybridge’s iconic studies of animal and human locomotion represented the successive stages of movement in individual frames, Marey captured them on a single photographic plate, creating trailing images of motion that were not only of great scientific interest, but which have informed almost all subsequent analytical representations of movement, from the rhythmical paintings of Giacomo Balla to the famous ‘stroboscopic’ photography of Harold Edgerton and Gjon Mili in the twentieth century.

Occupying a position on the cusp of the arts and sciences, this subject has long been of fascination to the exhibition’s curator, Jonathan Miller. From equestrian paintings of the eighteenth century, to contemporary experiments with long-exposure photography and CAD modelling, this personal selection of works illustrates the full range of artists’ resourcefulness in tackling this most intriguing and elusive of subjects.

Gallery Talks

Saturday afternoons at 15.00 -Informal talks on aspects of the exhibition last approximately 40 minutes and are free with an admission ticket purchased on the day.

Saturday 20 February 2010

On the Move: An Introduction
Jonathan Miller, exhibition curator

Saturday 27 February 2010

‘Mere Kinematic Representation’: The Contemporary Reception of Futurism and Cinema
Prof. Christopher Townsend, Dept of Media Arts, Royal Holloway, University of London

Saturday 6 March 2010

Moving Inside the Head: Representing Movement in the Brain
Prof. George Mather, Professor of Experimental Psychology, University of Sussex

Saturday 20 March 2010

Eadweard Muybridge: The Kingston Bequest
Peta Cook, Curator, Kingston Museum

Saturday 3 April 2010

Photographing Time
Jonathan Shaw, Associate Head of Media and Communication Dept, Coventry University, and contributor to the exhibition

Round Table

Tuesday 16 March 2010, 19.00-21.00

The Legacy of Muybridge and Marey
Discussion chaired by Jonathan Miller.

Tickets £15 (£12 concessions and Estorick members) including entry to the exhibition. Please book in advance on 020 7704 9522. Pay bar.

Photography Workshop

Tuesday 23 March 2010, 19.00-21.00

Freeze! Blur! Snap! Flash!

Learn tips and techniques for capturing movement on camera in this practical workshop led by photographer Clara Cowan. Please bring your own camera (which must have manual option).

Tickets £12 (£10 concessions and Estorick members). Spaces are limited so please book in advance on 020 7704 9522.

Share/Bookmark