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“The walls of the institution were completely bare, which is ironic considering it is an institution for the teaching of art history.”Joshua Compston
The Courtauld had famously educated its students in classrooms hung with masterpieces by Rubens and Van Gogh until its move to Somerset House in 1989. Dismayed by the bare walls of the classrooms, student Joshua Compston (1970-1996) established the East Wing Collection in 1991. Hoping to expose students to contemporary art vastly different from their studies, Compston brought artworks by artists such as Damien Hirst, Gilbert & George, and Howard Hodgkin to the seminar room walls of the Courtauld on a two-year loan basis as the Courtauld Loan Collection.
Over the following two decades this became the East Wing Biennial, a student-led exhibition which proved a valuable contribution to the study of contemporary art at the Courtauld both as a practical exercise in curation and a way of enriching the learning environment. The Courtauld’s relocation of teaching to Vernon Square in 2019 and the cancellation of the Biennial due to the Covid-19 pandemic once again removed the proximity to artworks that Compston saw as integral to the study of the history of art. The walls of the institution were again completely bare, and the legacy of Compston and the Biennial became uncertain.
VS1: EMBODIMENT
The Courtauld – East Wing Biennial 2023, The Courtauld, Vernon Square campus, WC1X 9EW
VS1, the first iteration of the Biennial to be held at Vernon Square, will celebrate the legacy of Joshua Compston, and once again bring Courtauld students into direct contact with contemporary art. Works across the campus have been sourced through a loan agreement with the Ruth Borchard Portrait Prize as well as an open call for artworks that explore the Biennial theme of ‘Embodiment’. VS1 aims to express the way that art can reflect and shape an individual’s experience of the modern world.
The artworks in the exhibition delve into the relationship between the body and self, exploring how contemporary artists use the body as both a subject and a medium for expression. The exhibition investigates the connection between our cognitive and physical selves, and how the body mediates our experiences and conflicts internally, with one another, and with the world around us, particularly as we navigate issues such as the Covid-19 pandemic, ageing, sexuality, technological advances, and climate change.
Embodiment also explores the mutability and transience of the human body. Artists participating explore the notion of transforming our physical selves to express our identities, or to rebel against social conventions. We invite the viewer to reflect upon their own body and the way it mediates and reflects their experience of the world, acting as a vessel for our experiences, emotions, and memories.
