Tate Britain's The 90s: Art and Fashion, curated by Edward Enninful, gets a harsh Guardian review
Tate Britain's The 90s: Art and Fashion, curated by former British Vogue editor Edward Enninful, opens on 8 October. The Guardian's critic calls it shallow, while Enninful says he hopes the government will back the arts as it did in the 1990s.
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The story, neutrally told
Mixed · 2Tate Britain's exhibition The 90s: Art and Fashion, curated by former British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful, runs from 8 October to 14 February next year. Evening StandardN “The 90s: Art And Fashion exhibition will run at Tate Britain from October 8 to February 14 next year, with tickets on sale from the Tate website.” Read at Evening Standard ↗ The GuardianLC “Instead former Vogue editor Edward Enninful has been invited to stage his personal fantasy version of that decade” Read at The Guardian ↗ Centre · 1According to the Evening Standard, it features work by Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, Jenny Saville, Alexander McQueen, Sir Steve McQueen and Vivienne Westwood. Evening StandardN “The exhibition features work from the likes of Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, Jenny Saville, Alexander McQueen, Sir Steve McQueen, and Vivienne Westwood.” Read at Evening Standard ↗ Left · 1The Guardian's critic Jonathan Jones judged it "dismally shallow", saying it mixes art and fashion with the emphasis on fashion and is "not a real exhibition" but "a magazine spread". The GuardianLC “This is not a real exhibition. It’s a magazine spread.”“this dismally shallow show closest to a moment of depth” Read at The Guardian ↗
Left · 1Jones argues that hanging fashion photography beside conceptual art is "a terrible idea", citing Juergen Teller's Kristen McMenamy No 3 next to Sarah Lucas's Chicken Knickers, and says the Alexander McQueen costumes in the "body horror" room are "mannered and pretentious". The GuardianLC “But setting fashion photography alongside works of conceptual art is a terrible idea.”“The room dealing with “body horror” is dominated by his costumes that are just mannered and pretentious.” Read at The Guardian ↗ Left · 1He says the Young British Art of the period gets too little space: Damien Hirst has two small sharks, Rachel Whiteread an early cast, Tracey Emin one neon, and artists such as Jeremy Deller and Mat Collishaw are absent. The GuardianLC “Damien Hirst has a couple of small, harmless-looking sharks balanced on a circular rail.”“Tracey Emin gets one neon. Other artists are noticeable by their absence, from Jeremy Deller to Mat Collishaw” Read at The Guardian ↗ Left · 1He credits the Chapman brothers' sculpture Great Deeds Against the Dead and Gary Hume's painting of Kate Moss as the strongest moments, and notes the show ends after seven rooms. The GuardianLC “Hume provides one of the few moments when fashion and art genuinely overlap”“After just seven rooms it suddenly ends.” Read at The Guardian ↗
Centre · 1At the launch event, Enninful, 54, told the Press Association he hopes Prime Minister Andy Burnham will "push the arts more", as Tony Blair's New Labour did in the 1990s. Evening StandardN “he hopes Prime Minister Andy Burnham will “push the arts more” than his predecessors, similar to how Tony Blair’s New Labour had done in the 1990s.” Read at Evening Standard ↗ Centre · 1Enninful said today's artists and designers have the talent for a similar renaissance but need government support, and described 1990s fashion, music and film as "the big flat" working "in perfect unison". Evening StandardN “we have the talent here, the artists are here, the designers are here, but I just hope that we have a Government that will just push the arts more.”“I call it the big flat where fashion, music, film, I mean, Trainspotting, everything in perfect unison” Read at Evening Standard ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.
Left1 outlet
- Framing
- A critical review that treats the show as a lightweight fashion spread that shortchanges 1990s British art.
- Emphasis
- Under-representation of artists, the clash of fashion and conceptual art, the show's brevity.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Does not cover Enninful's political comments or the exhibition's dates and ticketing.
- Charged language
- “dismally shallow”“breathlessly superficial”“magazine spread”
- For example
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“This breathlessly superficial show reduces it to a stylish pose” — The Guardian
Centre1 outlet
- Framing
- A launch-event news piece led by the curator's hopes that government will support the arts as it did in the 1990s.
- Emphasis
- Enninful's quotes on New Labour, Andy Burnham and the 1990s 'halo'; his biography; practical details.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Offers no critical assessment of the exhibition's content.
- Charged language
- “renaissance”
- For example
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“Somehow there was such a halo around that period.” — Evening Standard
Right0 outlets
No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
What every side reports
- The exhibition is at Tate Britain and curated by Edward Enninful, former Vogue editor.
- It combines art and fashion from the 1990s and includes work by Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and Alexander McQueen.
Where accounts differ
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Whether the art-and-fashion mix does justice to the decade
- Left
- Jones calls it superficial and says Young British Art is given too little space.
- Centre
- The Evening Standard reports Enninful's account of a 1990s moment when fashion, music and film worked 'in perfect unison', without assessing the show.
Edward Enninful person
Curator who hopes government will push the arts more, recalling the 1990s as a moment when fashion, music and film worked together.
“we kind of need to maybe find a way of doing that again.” — Evening Standard
Tate Britain organisation
Host of the show; Jones says Tate Britain gives Young British Art 'dismissive treatment' despite having done well out of those artists.
“the dismissive treatment that Tate, which did so well out of these artists, gives it” — The Guardian
Left1 article
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The GuardianLC · · Opinion
The 90s: Art and Fashion review – this isn’t an exhibition, it’s a magazine spread
Critical Opinion review dismissing the show as style over substance.
Centre2 articles
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Edward Enninful hopful Government will ‘push the arts more’ as it did in the 90s
Neutral Launch-event report centred on Enninful's remarks about government support for the arts.
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Right0 articles
No coverage yet.
- 6 Oct 10:54 First The GuardianLC The 90s: Art and Fashion review – this isn’t an exhibition, it’s a magazine spread Opinion
- 6 Oct 15:01 +4h 7m Evening StandardN Edward Enninful hopful Government will ‘push the arts more’ as it did in the 90s
- 6 Oct 16:50 +5h 55m Evening StandardN Edward Enninful hopeful Government will ‘push the arts more’
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.