Established by Jerwood Arts in 2018, Survey II is the second edition of a group exhibition that presents new work from some of the most outstanding artists in the first stages of their careers in the UK, providing a distinctive snapshot of current artistic concerns and approaches.
The exhibition will launch in Sheffield at Site Gallery in March 2021, before travelling to g39 in Cardiff (June 2021) and Jerwood Arts in London (October 2021). Each artist has been nominated by a leading UK artist – including those who have received accolades such as the Turner Prize and represented a British nation at the Venice Biennale and several of whom will also in the year ahead receive a Turner Prize Bursary or be part of British Art Show 9 – to take part in the exhibition. The exhibition tour will culminate with a London launch for Frieze Week in October 2021, after visiting Yorkshire and South Wales to be experienced by a wide range of national audiences.
Exhibiting artists for Survey II are:
Saelia Aparicio nominated by Jonathan Baldock
Tereza Červeňová nominated by Joanna Pietrowska
Sadé Mica nominated by Emily Speed and Jade Montserrat
Rebecca Moss nominated by Wood and Harrison
Cinzia Mutigli nominated by Sean Edwards
Katarzyna Perlak nominated by Zadie Xa
Shenece Oretha nominated by Zadie Xa
Tako Taal nominated by Jamie Crewe
Nicolaas Van de Lande nominated by Tai Shani
Angharad Williams nominated by Heather Phillipson
Each artist, all of whom are within the first five years of their professional practice, will have their new commissions presented in three very different gallery spaces across 2021. The tour will enable their work to develop and respond as it is curated in the three locales, and for the artists to have an opportunity to input into talks, events and networking activities around each venue’s presentation.
The artists, selected from a long list of almost 30 nominees, have an 8-month period to develop a significant new commission with curatorial and financial support from Jerwood Arts, before the 12-month UK tour begins. Peer led support and networking for the group will also be facilitated by Jerwood Arts and the partner galleries across the creation and exhibiting phases.
It is anticipated that many of the artists will respond to the times we are currently living through, with the works having been begun during a turbulent and fraught 2020.
Glasgow based exhibiting artist Tako Taal, comments,
How do I feel about being part of the project? The past three months have been challenging in numerous ways, there have been too many moments to mourn that it becomes difficult to think about what to say about making new work, like Saidiya Hartman says, we want to end this world as it is now and imagine and create something new. We won’t be fooled or tricked by the old forms of liberal inclusion.
London based exhibiting artist Shenece Oretha said,
I’m looking forward to meeting and working alongside the other artists. It’s nice to be given an opportunity to make work that will travel, reaching new places and people and to develop our practice working with the spaces and in conversation with communities and peers from across the UK.
Launching the exhibition with Site Gallery in Sheffield, affirms Jerwood Art’s commitment to visual arts development across the UK, building networks with and for artists across the country.
Following nominations, all artists were invited to submit a proposal for a new work before a final selection was made by a panel including Survey alumni artist Flo Brooks; Harriet Cooper, Head of Visual Arts; Jerwood Arts; Anthony Shapland, Artistic Director, g39; and Angelica Sule, Curator, Site Gallery.
Lilli Geissendorfer, Director, Jerwood Arts said,
During these months of uncertainty, partnerships and collaboration have been fundamental in helping us all find the way forward. We have a strong shared mission with Site Gallery in Sheffield and g39 in Cardiff to listen to artists and enable the best conditions for artistic development, and it has been fantastic to work with them both to select the 10 artists announced today for Survey II and adapt this project for the times we are living in.
Harriet Cooper, Head of Visual Arts, Jerwood Arts, said,
Survey II brings together some of the most compelling early-career artists working in the UK today. Nominated by leading artists and selected in the early stages of the UK lockdown this year, their diverse practices and approaches to making art remind us of the importance of artists’ voices in responding to the changing world around us. Asking artists to consider who this exhibition should include also emphasises our ambitions to always put artists at the centre of our programme. I am pleased we are able to support these artists to bring Survey II to life.
Sharna Jackson, Artistic Director, Site Gallery, said,
We are delighted to be collaborating with Jerwood Arts and g39 to support the art and artists in Survey II, and to bring them to Sheffield. Site Gallery has been described as a runway gallery and we are committed to supporting (re)emerging artists by equipping and empowering them to develop and sustain their practice. We are excited to connect the artists with our artists and networks in Sheffield, and bring national talent to our city.
Anthony Shapland, Artistic Director and Executive Director, g39 said,
The project stands as an amazing platform for new and diverse voices and the structure, touring not just the work but also the artists to the different venues and communities, is an exciting and dynamic way of connecting people. It’s the conversations that happen incidentally, in between the formal structures that enable them, that will build and sustain a more connected arts scene.
