Emma Chambers is curator of modern British art at London’s Tate. Verve caught up with her while she was in town to promote The Body Laid Bare at Auckland Art Gallery, an exhibiton of more than 100 artworks from Tate that recounts the story of artists’ fascination with the human form.
What makes you tick? What are your passions?
My passions are 20th-century art and architecture, cycling, Italian cities, food and culture.
You have the coolest job. How did you end up working at the Tate?
I’ve worked in museums since I left university, starting as a volunteer and then with smaller institutions like the Ashmolean Museum and Slade Collections. When the job at Tate came up it was a fantastic opportunity to work with the best collection of modern British art in the world.
Especially in New Zealand, curatorial jobs are scarce. What advice would you give to aspiring curators?
Build a strong CV by working in a variety of institutions and on independent projects, develop a specialist area and make sure you publish your writing in a range of different forms from journalism to academic papers.
What aspects of your job do you love best?
The research and selection of the works for exhibitions and seeing this all come together in the gallery space.
Is there anything about your job that you do not enjoy?
Like any job there is a certain amount of tedious administrative work, but it’s necessary to make the interesting stuff happen.
Auguste Rodin, The Kiss, 1901–4. ©Tate, London 2017.
The Body Laid Bare: Masterpieces from Tate, currently showing at Auckland Art Gallery, is a beautiful exhibition of remarkable pieces. How did the idea for it come about? In fact, how are any exhibitions born?
Tate and the Art Gallery of New South Wales have a long relationship of sharing artworks, but this project is the largest partnership between the two institutions thus far. The idea of an exhibition around the topic of the Nude was first discussed in 2014 and head curator of international art at AGNSW, Justin Paton, and I worked together to develop the themes of the show and select the artworks. The thematic sections in the exhibition highlight different approaches to the nude from privacy, eroticism, and vulnerability to the tension with abstract art and the role of images of the body in gender politics. We chose works that were both strong visually and would speak to some of these themes and shifts in the portrayal of the nude over time. It was also important that the works covered a range of viewpoints from more traditional nudes in which men look at women, to men portraying male bodies, women looking at women, and women looking at men.
How long does the exhibition stay alive before it is dismantled, and to how many countries does it travel?
After The Body Laid Bare closes at Auckland Art Gallery it travels to South Korea and Japan, closing in June 2018.
Is there any artwork in this exhibition that you feel stands heads and shoulders ahead of the rest?
Rodin’s ‘The Kiss’ is the heart of the exhibition and a starting point for many of the thematic issues that are explored in other sections of the show.
There are several works by female artists are on display. Amongst these, which is your favourite?
Sylvia Sleigh’s ‘Paul Rosano Reclining’ is one of my favourite works in the show because of the way it challenged all the expectations of looking at the nude when it was painted in the 1970s. It is simultaneously a very intimate portrait that captures the personality of the model and a trailblazing piece of feminist art.
Pablo Picasso, Nude Woman in a Red Armchair, 1932. ©Tate, London 2017.
Keeping these works safe is a huge responsibility. How do you?
We have an amazing team of registrars, conservators and art handlers who pack the works and travel with them. For instance Rodin’s ‘The Kiss’ has a special case and travels with its own display plinth to minimise movement of the work.
What tools do you believe are most effective for marketing your exhibitions?
Social media allows us to reach a wide and diverse audience, but although the instant availability of images and information has transformed the ways that we can find out about art for the better, it is still important to have longer print pieces which allow a deeper engagement with artworks.
What do you think is the primary challenge facing museums today?
Building their collections and programmes to reflect the diversity of audiences in a global museum environment.
Besides the Tate, which in the world, is your favourite art museum?
A very small museum in Cambridge, Kettles Yard, which was the home of the collector Jim Ede. He formed an amazing collection of modern British art and the house is preserved just as he lived in it. The rooms are beautiful and I really like to see how art works in a domestic space as well as in a museum environment.
The Body Laid Bare: Masterpieces from Tate is on at Auckland Art Gallery until 16 July.
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