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Research conducted by Phyllida Barlow at the Slade has had direct and indirect impacts on the production of new art, on art professionals and the public in their relationship to and understanding of contemporary sculpture, and on the promotion of public engagement with cultural heritage. This was achieved through a series of high-profile exhibitions building on her research at UCL, which demonstrated impact through their increasing profile and public interest, responses to her research questions in the popular and specialist press, and through the critical recognition and artistic responses her work received, including acquisitions by major national and international collections.
Research by Libby Sheldon into the history and technology of paints and pigments has benefited conservation specialists and art professionals based in both museums and the art trade. Using specialist scientific techniques to examine artists' paint materials, her research findings have made possible the accurate dating of Old Master and British paintings and have played a crucial role in their authentication and critical re-evaluation. Her analysis of works in important public as well as private collections has contributed to both professional and public understanding of our cultural heritage. Her research has enriched appreciation of technical art history for a large general audience through museum displays and programmes and through high-profile media appearances enhancing the understanding of how art is made from a technical and material perspective.
This case study demonstrates the impact of the Cass' research that has promoted and supported the now pivotal role of Installation art and Artists' Writing on the wider field of artistic and curatorial practice over the last decade and more specifically since 2008.
The body of research based on de Oliveira/Oxley's activities as curators and writers has been instrumental in the development of emerging forms of practice and critical discourse. Installation art highlighted significant changes in the understanding of the idea of the `medium', the institution and the relationship between artists, curators and audiences. This research is documented on their website www.writinginstallation.org.
Through the public exhibition of his own video practice and his dialogic approach to the presentation of other artists' works Richard Grayson's research projects as an artist-curator have impacted significantly on cultural life and public discourse around contemporary visual arts in the UK and internationally. Specifically his research has:
a) provided opportunities for audiences to experience new artworks and exhibitions which question conventional social narratives and world views;
b) through exhibitions, critical writing and gallery discussions, contributed to the development of public understanding of contemporary visual art.
This case study focuses particularly on the positive critical reception and longer-term impacts generated by Grayson's video work, The Golden Space City of God (2009) and two recent curatorial projects, Polytechnic (2011) and Revolver (2012).
Bournemouth University (BU) research by White (BU 2003 to present) focuses on the relationship between art, technology and culture. Exhibitions, workshops and presentations across the UK, Europe and in the USA have provoked societal reflection on critical topics such as genetics and germ warfare, among other controversial ethical issues. The work examines how sites, technologies and events shape our ideas of culture, political and personal life, whilst exposing audiences to ordinarily inaccessible information. Beneficiaries include the arts organisation with whom White has collaborated, and their participants, but more widely, those benefiting from his contribution to socially engaged art. The work has also furthered art-science discourse, providing impetus and critical breadth to the development of art and science as a cultural sector in the UK.
Afterall is a research and publishing organisation founded in 1998 by Research Fellow Charles Esche and Professor Mark Lewis at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London (UAL). Afterall focuses on contemporary art, and its relationship to wider theoretical, social and political fields. Researchers associated to Afterall undertake and commission research, which is disseminated to an international audience through publications and events. Afterall impacts on the cultural sector and an extended audience by providing a platform for critical and creative responses to art, curatorial and cultural practice and by shaping discourse in this area. The significance and wide reach of this impact is demonstrated through partnerships and high-profile cultural events, publication reach, and support from the cultural community.
This project, which challenged both preconceptions about a renowned artist and also the character of a retrospective, resulted in the most visited art exhibition ever staged at the Grand Palais in Paris (913,064 visitors). At the request of the Musée d'Orsay and Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Professor Richard Thomson led the team organising Monet, 1840-1926. This was the first major retrospective of the work of Monet in Paris since 1980 and provided a model for mounting retrospectives. Building on research into the wider socio-historical impact of art, and its ability to stimulate debate, the radical display of Monet's paintings has made their scholarly interpretation more publicly accessible and is recorded in an exhibition catalogue that sold 83,000 copies.
The impact comes from Ekserdjian's authentication and attribution of Renaissance paintings and the curatorship of international exhibitions, both of which have had substantial financial impact on institutions and individuals involved in the art market, in particular the auction house sector, galleries and museums. This also includes cultural impacts on the art-loving public by introducing them to newly-discovered and attributed artworks which might previously have never been exhibited publicly and by offering innovative ways of exhibiting and understanding masterpieces gathered from around the globe.
Through a partnership forged with the Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh, Briony Fer developed international exhibitions building on research into the materials and processes underlying art's making and thinking. This reached both general and specialist publics, including artists and conservators in the UK and beyond. The exhibition Eva Hesse: Studiowork from 2009 travelled across Europe and North America over two years, attracting over 200,000 visitors. It provided cultural enrichment and raised public awareness about how art is made; deepened specialist knowledge of fragile materials crucial to the conservation of modern sculpture; brought previously unknown artworks into the public domain and contributed to the tourist and heritage industry as part of the Edinburgh Art Festival.
The leading open submission exhibition `EASTinternational' is significant in establishing the reputations of prominent artists and curators who have become major forces in contemporary art in the UK and across the world. `EASTinternational' parallels the rise of the Young British Artists, and is not dependent on an established commercial network. Many influential curators and dealers have used the exhibition as a serious sounding board for new artists, who otherwise might not have been provided a platform through which to engage with high profile practitioners, curators and dealers, and to access new markets. In researching contemporary and emerging practice, identifying topical exhibition themes, commissioning new works, originating solo exhibitions and developing international networks `EASTinternational' has supported the professional, career and commercial development of over 700 artists, curators and dealers, and enhanced critical discourse in a variety of disciplines.