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Artist News Gigs & Festivals
National Gallery to put original sounds to its paintings
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 12 May 2015
The National Gallery in London has announced a season of soundscapes, which will see musicians and sound artists create audio to accompany a painting in the museum’s collection. Punters will then be able to enter a sound proofed room in the gallery where the chosen painting with be displayed and the accompanying soundscape will play. Audio-makers involved include Nico Muhly, Susan Philipsz, Gabriel Yared, Jamie xx, Chris Watson, Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller.
Announcing the scheme, a first for the National Gallery, a spokesman said: “Ambitious in its approach, this cross-disciplinary exhibition aims to celebrate the National Gallery’s collection and demonstrate how masterpieces from the collection continue to inspire living artists today. By allowing familiar paintings to be encountered and contemplated from a new angle, visitors will be encouraged to rethink their perception of the selected paintings and explore wider conversations about how we experience art and the affinities that exist between music and painting”.
Meanwhile the gallery’s Director, Dr Nicholas Penny, added: “When sounds have been composed in response to a work of art, they can encourage – even compel – concentration. Furthermore, it can combine with an image to captivate and transport us. Silence, afterwards, is not the same!”
The soundscapes will play between 8 Jul and 6 Sep.
