The David Hockney exhibition closed its doors yesterday having received universal positive reviews.
As Tate Britain’s fastest selling exhibition, its popularity was unprecedented, with this weekend’s Bank Holiday openings being extended to midnight. Hockney himself described it as a “beautiful show”, and Tweeters took to Twitter in droves sharing their feelings on the exhibition.
With memories of the show still prominent in the nation’s mind there is still extensive work to be done for MCD Heritage. As Tate Britain’s chosen contractor for installing Hockney’s show it was only natural that we would be asked to disassemble it. Now the exhibits are down we have over 200 linear metres of exhibition space to take down. This extensive work needs to be completed within a week and the gallery returned to a condition that can be used for the next show.
Installing the Hockney Exhibition at Tate Britain
Requirements:
- Exhibition works
- Rebuild of 16 galleries
- Close coordination with Tate Britain’s co-curator
Tate Britain required competent and skilled contractors to work alongside Tate Britain’s co-curator Chris Stephens to create 16 refurbished galleries to exhibit the David Hockney’s retrospective exhibition. This exhibition was to celebrate Hockney’s 80th birthday and had attracted both national and international media attention.
The refurbishment required rebuilding different areas of the gallery and creating the space that was sympathetic to Hockney’s work.
What did we do?
MCD Heritage have a long standing relationship with Tate Britain, and worked closely with Chris Stephens, co-curator, to achieve precisely what was needed to create the exhibition space for Hockney’s exhibition. This was achieved by removing all existing walls and rebuilding them, decorating them with the appropriate paint, and sanding and sealing the floor. Where necessary scaffolding and Genie lifts were used to access areas safely.
The additional challenge came when we were asked to change the colours of the walls after we had completed the work. Working round the clock we brought in extra teams so that we could ensure that everything looked perfect for the opening of the exhibition.
We worked skilfully with the art handler team to ensure that the galleries were ready in time.
Throughout the project, we completed the following:
- Rebuild of 16 galleries using tape and jointing method to give a smooth finish,
- Reinforcement of walls where screens were to be attached,
- Painting of all walls, and repainting just prior to exhibition opening,
- Sanding and sealing the floors,
- Co-ordination of all works with art handlers and co-curator,
- Restoration of galleries to original state.
Results
The Tate Britain benefitted from refurbished galleries that provide the perfect exhibition space for Hockney’s 80th birthday celebration.