An evening exploring the extraordinary wealth of material in the Artists’ Lives collection held in the British Library. Author, curator and former National Life Stories research fellow Michael Bird will introduce recordings by Frank Bowling, Phyllida Barlow, Liliane Lijn, Peter Blake and other artists, asking what makes these voices so revealing and often surprising in their power to illuminate the practice of art and the wider movements of history.
The Artists’ Lives archive, and spoken history more generally, have informed Michael Bird’s recent work, including his book Studio Voices and the accompanying exhibition at The Lightbox in 2017, and his new book, This is Tomorrow: Twentieth-century Britain and its Artists, which will be available for sale and signing at the talk.
To book for the talk and dinner click here.
Praise for This is Tomorrow:
“Bird’s sinuous narrative calls up the texture of history.” Charles Darwent, Times Literary Supplement
“A brilliant book, by far the best survey of a period that I’ve read in years.” Andrew Lambirth, The Spectator