atkinson
Conrad Atkinson, professor emeritus with his art

Art Professor Emeritus at Tate Gallery

Conrad Atkinson, professor emeritus in the Department of Art and Art History, has work in an exhibition at the Tate Gallery in London as well as a solo exhibition in New York. 

His “Mayday: a shade of green an orange edge” is part of “Conceptual Art in Britain 1964-1979” at Tate Britain though Aug. 29.

The museum is showing a multi-piece work by Atkinson, completed in 1976, that explores the conflicts in Northern Ireland. In 126 photographs and statements written onto orange, white and green cards, Atkinson examined the conflicts between Catholic and Protestant both expressing their beliefs through graffiti on the streets of Northern Ireland during the late 20th century.

The Tate acquired the work two years ago. It is part of a larger work shown in Belfast, Northern Ireland, shortly after it was completed consisting of approximately 2,000 photos, documents and videotape interviews. 

Atkinson, who taught at UC Davis from 1992 to 2002, also has a solo exhibition at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts in New York through May 27. The exhibition includes “Shopping Carts,” which conflates high and low culture, and a piece made of ruby slippers, using the “Wizard of Oz” as a metaphor for anti-immigration policies.

Atkinson’s art is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, among others.  He splits his time between his native Great Britain and Northern California.

— Jeffrey Day, content strategist in the UC Davis College of Letters and Science

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