The Royal Family

Looking ahead to the wedding of Prince William of Wales to Kate Middleton, 'The Royal Family' is an exhibition that focuses on contemporary artist's representations of the House of Windsor. It features works in a range of media—including drawing, photography, film and ceramics—that examine the family's individual members, and the signs and signifiers of 21st century monarchy. Often irreverent, the show explores class, celebrity, conspiracy theory, the meeting of the mythic and the mundane, and the visual language of State. On one level, the works in 'The Royal Family' can be seen as an alternative to both traditional commissioned portraits of Royalty and the presentation of this institution in the popular media.

Tony Oursler and Hans-Peter Feldmann employ the Queen's image as it appears on UK currency as their starting point and Alan Kane's Orphan Tea Set (Windsor) (2010) is a mismatched tea set made up of items purchased from charity shops in the shadow of Windsor Castle. Lars Laumann's film montageMorrissey Foretelling The Death of Diana (2006) suggests through cryptic clues embedded in lyrics, images and videos, that the former lead singer of The Smiths foretold of The Princess of Wales' demise, while Francis Upritchard's drawings and sculptures depict The Prince of Wales as a possible anti-Christ. Adam Dant presents Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie as classical nymphs, and Alison Jackson's photograph of Prince William and Kate Middleton lookalikes locked in an embrace prompts us to think of the very public stakes of Royalty's private moments, and of a type of Royal 'portraiture' tailored towards the voyeuristic habits of today's media consumer. Presiding over the show is Otto Muehl's 1968 screen print Prince Charles – an image of a future King made in a year of mass revolt.

The exhibition is curated by Ralph Rugoff, Director, Hayward Gallery, and Tom Morton, Curator, Hayward Gallery

The Royal Family
Kuratoren: Ralph Rugoff, Tom Morton

Künstler: Adam Dant, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Alison Jackson, Alan Kane, Lars Laumann, Otto Muehl, Tony Oursler, Francis Upritchard