Cornelia Parker (RA, OBE) is world-renowned. She was nominated for the Turner Prize in 1997 and was the first female figure to be appointed the Election Artist for the UK General Election in 2017. She has exhibited with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, V&A, Tate, the British Museum, and, most recently, MCA Australia.
Her sculptures and installations have accrued global acclaim, including Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View (1991). The dramatic piece included collaborating with the British Army, blowing up a garden shed and suspending the fragments as if in a moment of brief violence and chaos. Other notable works include Heart of Darkness (2004), which included suspension of charcoal from a Florida wildfire.
Parker has relentlessly engaged with the world around her, reflecting on uncomfortable truths including the climate crisis, violence and freedom. At the Aesthetica Future Now Symposium (York UK), Parker will discuss the conceptual, political and physical elements of her practice. She will touch upon the use of materials, exploring their meaning in a world of mass-consumption and geological fragility, including her activism as an artist: “We might not have a future unless we do something to mitigate what’s happening.”
Future Now is a key event in the UK arts calendar. Spanning two days, (12-13 March) it brings together key institutions, galleries, fairs and publications for discussion surrounding the sector. It is a platform to debate, discuss and connect with key decisionmakers in the industry. 2020 speakers include Martin Parr, Nadav Kander and John Keane, as well as representatives from Magnum Photos, The Photographers’ Gallery, Creative Review, Somerset House, British Journal of Photography, Design Museum and more.
The session, titled Transforming Objects, takes place 13 March, 15.00-16.00 in York St John University’s De Grey Lecture Theatre. Tickets available here.
Lead image: Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View, 1991. Installation view, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, 2019. Blown up garden shed and contents, wire, light bulb. Tate: Presented by the Patrons of New Art (Special Purchase Fund) through the Tate Gallery Foundation, 1995.Image courtesy the artist, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and Frith Street Gallery, London Photograph: Anna Kučer.
1. Subconscious of a Monument, 2001–05. Installation view, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, 2019. Earth excavated from underneath Leaning Tower of Pisa (to stop it falling) Private Collection, Turin. Image courtesy the artist, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and Frith Street Gallery, London © the artist Photograph: Anna Kučera.
