The second display of the Government Art Collection at Whitechapel Gallery in London was this year selected and curated by artist Cornelia Parker. The artworks are arranged by hue, hence the exhibition title ‘Richard Of York Gave Battle in Vain’- a familiar mnemonic used to recall the key colours of the spectrum. The exhaustive task of sifting through the Government Art Collection’s vast array of 13,500 works led Parker to select the images by applying a kind of colour theory; a conscious way of choosing the works which would be hung in just one room. As Parker explains in the exhibition guide; “Presenting a cacophony of colour; an optical mix that allows the opportunity to blend your own political tint […] The spectrum as a way of unifying or codifying the works gives rise to curious juxtapositions, random clashes of Old Masters rubbing shoulders with YBAs”.
Image: Government Art Collection
