Following a two year closure - and £13.5 million spend - the re-launched and expanded Whitechapel Gallery celebrates its launch. Among the new artworks to draw the crowds for this eagerly anticipated reopening is a year-long installation by London-based Polish artist Goshka Macuga who was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2008 for Objects in Relation. The site-specific tapestry artwork she has created here, The Nature of the Beast, is the first of The Bloomsberg Commissions and it's pertinent to the Whitechapel Gallery in a number of ways. Macuga's work was inspired by Picasso's Guernica which was exhibited here in 1939 to raise consciousness of the Spanish Civil War. The price of entry: a pair of boots - which were then sent to the freedom fighters in Spain. In the fifties Picasso's painting was created as a tapestry which, in 1985 was hung in the United Nations Headquarters in New York outside the Security Chamber. It remained there for twenty years as a permanent reminder of the horrors of war. In the light of this and recent political events - not to mention anti-war protestors during the recent G20 summit - it's plain to see why Picasso's imagery still remains relevant today.
Whitechapel Gallery
Re-opened April 2009
Art Gallery
Designed in a distinctive Arts and Crafts architecture style by Charles Harrison Townsend, the Whitechapel, Britain's first purpose-built arts... More
Whitechapel Gallery
80 Whitechapel High Street, E1 7QX
Designed in a distinctive Arts and Crafts architecture style by Charles Harrison Townsend, the Whitechapel, Britain's first purpose-built... More
Andaz London
40 Liverpool Street, Liverpool Street, EC2M 7QN
Everything about the Andaz oozes designer appeal, even down to the name (which means "style" in... More
Alternative Exhibitions
Nearest to The Bloomberg Commission: Goshka Macuga
13 minutes walk from The Bloomberg Commission: Goshka Macuga
With 2009 marking the 500th anniversary of King Henry VIII's coronation there are a series of major exhibitions taking place across London this year. In ...More
11 minutes walk from The Bloomberg Commission: Goshka Macuga
A guided tour of Dennis Severs' House is one of the must-see attractions of hidden London. The living museum, the brainchild of eccentric designer and ...More
11 minutes walk from The Bloomberg Commission: Goshka Macuga
The atmospheric Silent Night candle-lit tours of Dennis Severs' House are particularly fun at this time of year. The house was created by Dennis Severs ...More
11 minutes walk from The Bloomberg Commission: Goshka Macuga
Housed in one of the great Victorian station hotels, this showstopper is a mixture of meticulous nineteenth century restoration and the glittering wit of Terrence ... More
Designed in a distinctive Arts and Crafts architecture style by Charles Harrison Townsend, the Whitechapel, Britain's first purpose-built arts gallery, is renowned both for the ... More
Between Middlesex and Goulston Streets,Tower Hamlets,
London,
E1Map
5 minutes walk from The Bloomberg Commission: Goshka Macuga
Petticoat Lane is London's world famous Sunday market and sells mainly clothes for men, women and children, from street-cred clubwear to over-orders of designer goods ... More
6 minutes walk from The Bloomberg Commission: Goshka Macuga
Brick Lane Market is pure East End London, which means Jewish bagel shops, Bangladeshi curry houses, Indian sari silks - and Cockneys crying out their ... More
7 minutes walk from The Bloomberg Commission: Goshka Macuga
Established in 1974, Meraz has been serving up authentic Indian food since the first generation of Bangladeshi, Punjabi and Indian immigrants came to London. A ...More
10 minutes walk from The Bloomberg Commission: Goshka Macuga
One of the best value English Language Schools in town, offering everything from beginner lessons to Executive English for business use. The school provides an ...More
8 minutes walk from The Bloomberg Commission: Goshka Macuga
The third of these increasingly popular 1950s retro-America style bowling alleys opened in late 2008 to much critical acclaim. Located in the Old Truman Brewery ...More
Spitalfields Health and Fitness,
Fruit Exchange Building,Brushfield Street,Shoreditch,
London,
E1Map
7 minutes walk from The Bloomberg Commission: Goshka Macuga
A relatively new player in the health and fitness market, the Exchanges offer well equipped gyms, as well as classes, beauty therapy and swimming. New ...More
11 minutes walk from The Bloomberg Commission: Goshka Macuga
Cavernous Spitalfields pub with regular comedy and cabaret nights, a basement bar for hire and good pub food. Gets nice and cosy in the winter, ...More
3 minutes walk from The Bloomberg Commission: Goshka Macuga
Scuzzy venue on the outskirts of Shoreditch which looks like a crummy cafe from the outside. Walk past the crowded plastic tables and chairs and ... More
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Following a two year closure - and £13.5 million spend - the re-launched and expanded 
