Safe Space Reading Circle: ‘Present Tense’

24 Mar 2024 2-4pm

Overview

Join us at Hauser & Wirth Somerset for our ‘Safe Space Reading Circle’, which celebrates texts spanning prose, poetry, critical and creative writing rooted in the practices of the artists in ‘Present Tense.’

Taking place in the Implement Shed, these sessions will explore the work of innovative writers, fostering learning through open discussion, connection and knowledge sharing.  

Schedule
• Sunday 25 February, 2 – 4 pm
• Sunday 24 March, 2 – 4 pm

Victoria Cantons will lead our February reading circle, focusing on key texts that have inspired her. Participants will have an opportunity to view Cantons’s work in ‘Present Tense,’ and then discuss the selected extracts from Phillip Guston’s ‘I Paint What I Want to See’ (2022); Mary Beard’s ‘Women and Power: A Manifesto’ (2018); Leo Tolstoy’s ‘War and Peace’ (1868); and some of the artist’s own poetry.  

Emanuel de Carvalho will lead the March reading circle, discussing texts by Kathy Acker, Michel Foucault and Antonio Damasio. 

These events are free, however advanced booking is required. Where possible, text extracts will be made available prior to the event. 

About ‘Present Tense’
‘Present Tense’ spotlights the next generation of artists living and working in the UK, from emerging to mid-career, celebrating a breadth of creative talent and socially engaged practices. The multifaceted group presentation consists of 23 contemporary artists outside of the Hauser & Wirth roster, testing the boundaries of their mediums to address and confront notions of identity, consciousness, humanity and representation. Through their individual lens, each artist is responding to the cultural climate of the UK right now, depicting a range of lived experiences that co-exist and connect within the rich fabric of the same location.

The exhibition is on view through Sunday 28 April.

Book now