Christina Mackie: Tate Britain Commission 2015

This spring the prestigious Tate Britain Commission is awarded to artist Christina Mackie, best known for her multi-layered sculptural works made from unlikely materials, which she refers to as ‘emotional landscapes’. After honouring the sculptor Phyllida Barlow in 2014, Tate continues to offer valuable recognition to established British female artists with this major award.

Christina Mackie biography

With so many strings to her bow, including photography, ceramics, found materials, watercolours and 3D computer-generated objects, Mackie’s practice is regardless marked by an obsession with colour and how we perceive it. Major exhibitions have included the Christina Mackie Chisenhale gallery show in 2012. Her 35-year career has even already let her to the doors of Tate Britain, London with the enormous crafted installation The Large Huts in 2007 on the lawn outside the museum.

Tate Britain exhibition 2015

Christina Mackie has another treat in store for the Tate exhibition with a new three-part installation, comprised of 12-metre-high dipped silk nets suspended above pans of semi-crystallised dye. This curious display will be shown next to a dynamic yellow sculpture like a scientific apparatus and a plinth covered with chunks of raw glass. Mackie fuses the fluidity of the paint with the unique architectural setting of the Tate in a delicate way. You’ll find that the solid stone of the Duveen Galleries accentuates the ethereal quality of the dye, and the glass surface reflects the changing light levels from the skylights above.

There is a refreshing playfulness to Mackie’s new work, embracing the unexpected and serendipitous elements of chance in any exhibition installation. More serious themes about the ephemeral material landscape and how long artwork as visual information can last are also raised, particularly thinking about a time when digital archiving will become obsolete.

Christina Mackie takes the reigns at Tate Britain with another thought-provoking installation.