Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level C , Case MB2G, Shelf DR56, Box MP323

The Oil Ship

Print
2013 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This print was made by Conrad Atkinson (born 1940) as a fund-raiser for Liberate Tate, a group set up to challenge and protest against BP’s sponsorship of Tate exhibitions and events. The print, entitled The Oil Ship (a reference to J.M.W.Turner’s The Slave Ship now in Boston Museum), depicts a pastiche of a newspaper seller's notice for the Evening Standard with the headline: “Painting of Deepwater Horizon Explosion Wins Turner Prize.” Atkinson has over many years utilised the medium of oil and acrylic to parody newspapers throughout the world from Pravda to the New York Times and The Village Voice and The Guardian. The V&A has several of his prints parodying newspaper front pages.

Conrad Atkinson said: “I admire the Tate, with which Sir Nicholas Serota has done much to reassert the importance of contemporary art. He has been a colleague of mine over many years and we have shared the same interests. The Tate has three of my large, major works and its curators rarely put a foot wrong artistically. I understand the financial pressures on the Tate but I wanted to make this work The Oil Ship to reinforce the concerns of many in the art world of the dangers of becoming the butlers and handmaidens of multinational corporations. The last work of mine acquired by the Tate was “ASBESTOS: the Lungs of Capitalism” - the asbestos industry would clearly not have supported its purchase or display.”


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleThe Oil Ship (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Lithograph
Brief description
Conrad Atkinson: The Oil Ship, 2013. Lithograph
Physical description
Print designed to look like a newspaper stand notice with 'hand-drawn' text in black on white and the logo of The Evening Standard below.
Dimensions
  • Sheet height: 59.5cm
  • Sheet width: 42cm
Style
Copy number
11/75
Marks and inscriptions
11/75 Conrad Atkinson For BP 2013 (Edition number; signature; date. All in pencil.)
Production
This print was made by Conrad Atkinson as a fund-raiser for Liberate Tate, a group set up to challenge and protest against BP's sponsorship of Tate exhibitions and events.
Summary
This print was made by Conrad Atkinson (born 1940) as a fund-raiser for Liberate Tate, a group set up to challenge and protest against BP’s sponsorship of Tate exhibitions and events. The print, entitled The Oil Ship (a reference to J.M.W.Turner’s The Slave Ship now in Boston Museum), depicts a pastiche of a newspaper seller's notice for the Evening Standard with the headline: “Painting of Deepwater Horizon Explosion Wins Turner Prize.” Atkinson has over many years utilised the medium of oil and acrylic to parody newspapers throughout the world from Pravda to the New York Times and The Village Voice and The Guardian. The V&A has several of his prints parodying newspaper front pages.

Conrad Atkinson said: “I admire the Tate, with which Sir Nicholas Serota has done much to reassert the importance of contemporary art. He has been a colleague of mine over many years and we have shared the same interests. The Tate has three of my large, major works and its curators rarely put a foot wrong artistically. I understand the financial pressures on the Tate but I wanted to make this work The Oil Ship to reinforce the concerns of many in the art world of the dangers of becoming the butlers and handmaidens of multinational corporations. The last work of mine acquired by the Tate was “ASBESTOS: the Lungs of Capitalism” - the asbestos industry would clearly not have supported its purchase or display.”
Collection
Accession number
E.59-2014

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Record createdOctober 25, 2013
Record URL
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