Artist Afra Eisma and Anne Barlow, Director, Tate St Ives, dive into splashdown tender, Afra’s first UK solo exhibition.
The artist transformed The Tetley, with textile works spilling out across the galleries, accompanied by soft sculptures, sound installations and ceramics.
This conversation explores the themes, references and process behind the commission in The Tetley’s Atrium, as well as touching on other works, from Eisma’s first exhibited drawings to puppet theatres, as well as lampshades in domestic spaces and heart-shaped javelins.
The conversation lasts around 45 minutes with questions at the end.
A subtitled version of the event is available to watch above.
Afra Eisma is a multi-disciplinary artist who works in The Hague, the Netherlands.
She graduated from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague and spent a year at Central Saint Martins, UK, during her studies. Her work has been exhibited at numerous galleries and museums including Fries Museum, CIAJG, Kunstinstituut Melly, 1646, de Vleeshal and Art Brussel. She was nominated for the prestigious Royal Award for Modern Painting in 2018 and de Scheffer Prijs in 2022. Most recently, she exhibited at the Fundació Joan Miró and Dhaka Art Summit.
Anne Barlow is Director of Tate St Ives where she oversees its programme of exhibitions, collection displays, artist residencies, new commissions, learning and research. Barlow was formerly Director of Art in General, New York, and held curatorial roles at the New Museum, New York and Glasgow Museums, Scotland. Across these roles, she has published and lectured widely and curated exhibitions with artists including Thao Nguyen Phan, Petrit Halilaj, Haegue Yang, Huguette Caland, Dineo Seshee Bopape, Marwa Arsanios and Basim Magdy. She was Curator of 5th Bucharest Biennale, Co-Curator of the Latvian Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale, and most recently curated the Samdani Art Award at the 2023 Dhaka Art Summit, Bangladesh. Barlow has acted on selection panels and juries nationally and internationally, including MAC International 2018, Belfast, the Artists of Tomorrow Award 2020-22, Pristina, Kosovo, and the British Pavilion Selection Committee, 58th Venice Biennale.
This event has been made possible by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and LEEDS 2023.
Afra Eisma: splashdown tender is supported by the Mondriaan Fund, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, LEEDS 2023 and No Man’s Art Gallery