The Gallery of Lost Art is an online exhibition that tells the
stories of artworks that have disappeared. Destroyed, stolen,
discarded, rejected, erased, ephemeral - some of the most
significant artworks of the last 100 years have been lost and can
no longer be seen.
This virtual year-long exhibition explores the sometimes
extraordinary and sometimes banal circumstances behind the loss of
major works of art. Archival images, films, interviews, blogs and
essays are laid out for visitors to examine, relating to the
loss of works by over 40 artists across the twentieth century,
including such figures as Marcel Duchamp, Joan Miró, Willem de
Kooning, Rachel Whiteread and Tracey Emin.
The Gallery of Lost Art is curated by Tate, designed by digital
studio ISO, and produced in partnership with Channel 4, with
additional support from The Arts and Humanities Research Council
(AHRC).
Jennifer Mundy, curator of The Gallery of Lost Art, says: "Art
history tends to be the history of what has survived. But loss has
shaped our sense of art's history in ways that we are often not
aware of. Museums normally tell stories through the objects
they have in their collections. But this exhibition focuses on
significant works that cannot be seen."
The Gallery of Lost Art will last for one year before itself being
lost. It launched on 2 July 2012 featuring 20
artworks, and a new work is added each week over six months
until the exhibition is complete. Beyond these showcased works, the
site provides a platform for interaction, discussion and commentary
on the subject of lost art as a whole.
Jane Burton, Creative Director, Tate Media, says: "The Gallery of
Lost Art is a ghost museum, a place of shadows and traces. It could
only ever exist virtually. The challenge was to come up with a way
of showcasing these artworks and telling their stories, when, in
many cases, poor quality images are all we have left of them. The
result is a new way of looking at art: an immersive website
in the form of a vast warehouse, where visitors can explore the
evidence laid out for them."