The UK Government Art Collection (GAC) has commissioned nine UK-based artists, including Cornelia Parker and Hew Locke, to create works in response to the recent Coronation of King Charles III. The work will be completed over the next few months and will be on public display, a statement from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said.
Artists Cornelia Parker, Hew Locke and Dale Lewis were based in London for their coronation commissions, while Dublin-born artist Joy Gerrard surveyed and drew crowds gathered in London and Belfast.
Parker says in a instagram post that she “managed to join the crowd outside Buckingham Palace in the afternoon [of 6 May] to see the new king and queen on their balcony which was as close as possible. Passed sometime earlier, in the company of anti-monarchy protesters outside the National Gallery. We had a lot of fun. One contributor, however, replies, “It’s hard for you when you’re part of the establishment.” Parker replied, “Any privileged access I’ve had is hard won and hard to come by,” adding “I’m [sic] accepted the position of election artist so that I could enter areas that would normally be taboo for an artist”.
In Scotland, near the royal estate of Balmoral Castle, photographer Sophie Gerrard recorded coronation activities in rural communities while British-Jamaican photographer Vanley Burke captured celebrations in Birmingham neighborhoods.
Leslie Thompson documents related events in central Manchester, while Mohamed Hassan has photographed neighborhood events in Cardiff, Swansea and other locations in South Wales. British-born American artist Shantell Martin created a live work at a coronation in New York.
The project recalls an initiative launched at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 when the Department of Public Works, predecessor to the government’s art collection, commissioned a series of pieces from artists such as LS Lowry and Laura Knight.
According to the GAC website, Lowry “find himself distracted by the crowd [during the procession], not by the big show”. He said: “Some great incidents have taken place […] which fascinated me but not, I imagine, what the Department of Public Works wants. His work-The procession in front of the Queen Victoria Memorial— was first displayed at the British Embassy in Moscow and is now on display at the Consulate General in New York.
