An exhibition of Field Working Number 7 1972 (Sandy Beach Piece), a seminal work by renowned Conceptual and Feminist artist Marie Yates, presented in the Light Studio.
Field Working Number 7 1972 (Sandy Beach Piece) is part of the series The Field Workings 1971-3 which was exhibited at Arnolfini in 1973 during Yates’ solo exhibition. She was represented by further similar works (now referred to as The Signals Project) which were shown in Artists Over Land at Arnolfini in 1975, along with pieces by Richard Long, Philllippa Ecobichon and Hamish Fulton.
Consisting of a series of photographs of landscape and texts presented as documents, The Field Workings 1971-3 reported on a number of journeys-as-performances made by Yates in rural south west England with the composer and writer, David Toop. Some featured temporary minimalist placements.
The showing of this archival piece from 1972 will coincide with a screening at our seminar Throwing Stones of Distance: On Not Going Home, a video introduction to a new installation project by Yates, which recalls and remembers her conceptual landscape work of the 1970’s.
Together, these expositions bring an important and under-celebrated female voice back to Arnolfini, for a long awaited review.
Artist biography
Marie Yates is known for her conceptual projects addressing issues of representation, signification and sexual difference, in the form of installation, images and text.
She has exhibited widely. Her installation works have appeared in many public sites in Britain and abroad, as well as in the collections of the Arts Council of England, the British Council and in private collections.
Between 1971 to 1991 she lectured at most of the Fine Art departments of the major art colleges of the United Kingdom, and retired from teaching in 1991 as Principal Lecturer in Media at the University of the Arts, London.
In 1991 she left England, interrupting her former art practice for a time. She now lives in Greece. After a break of some years and a period of intense academic and theoretical study she began once more to construct art projects. Recently, she has turned to the question of exile and belonging. This new project is ongoing and in progress at the present time.
Part of the Arnolfini Story Project
Arnolfini Story is a multifaceted project celebrating the heritage of the organisation. Through it, we offer information and material from our archives, invite you to share your Arnolfini memories with us, and commission artists and writers to create new response to our history. It launches in 2015, 40 years after Arnolfini moved in to the Bush Warehouse, thereby becoming one of the first organisations to pioneer reuse of Bristol’s derelict docks.
