The eye-catching Lives Less Ordinary: Working Class Britain Re-seen exhibition at Two Temple Place contrasts two different worlds.
January 25 to April 20鈥擜 compelling new exhibition in London shines a spotlight on the lives of the working class in post-war Britain. at Two Temple Place offers a thought-provoking contrast between its subject matter and the venue鈥檚 lavish interiors. Promising to 鈥渦npack a century of misunderstanding and misrepresentation,鈥� the exhibition explores the complexities of working-class identity within the grandeur of its setting.
Since October 2011, Two Temple Place has been used as a public gallery to host exhibitions showcasing publicly owned art from regional collections and for private hire. In 2024, Weldon Flooring completed its restoration of the floor in the Great Hall, offering an additional illustration of the working class behind exquisite venues.
Two Temple Place Contrasts Two Different Worlds
Originally built in 1895 as the office of real-estate magnate William Waldorf Astor, Two Temple Place stands in stark contrast to the realities of working-class life. Yet, its intricate wood carvings and elaborate furnishings owe much to the skill and craftsmanship of working-class artists and artisans鈥攁dding a deeper layer of resonance to the exhibition’s themes.
鈥淭he building adds to the whole conversation about working-class lives,鈥� the exhibition鈥檚 curator Samantha Manton said in an interview with 杏吧原创. 鈥淲illiam Waldorf Astor was one of the wealthiest men in the world at the time the building was designed, and money was no object, so he just poured all of his aesthetic tastes and interests into it.
鈥淪o for this exhibition, I wanted to meet that lavishness with the richness of working-class lives. It creates the perfect dialogue between the two extremes.鈥�
Manton said she took a maximalist approach, using some 鈥渞eally wild鈥� colors to bring the exhibition to life and celebrate the joy of working-class lives, complemented by the building鈥檚 rich interiors. There鈥檚 also a focus on home life in many of the pieces on display.
鈥淚 have used the magnificent central atrium and staircase as a place to exhibit these scenes in a series of portraitures,鈥� said Manton. 鈥淭here鈥檚 also a dual-screen film installation by the artist and photographer Matthew Arthur Williams, which has a soundtrack that will permeate throughout the central space, adding to the whole atmosphere.鈥�
Comprised of a lower gallery, staircase area, library, and great hall, Rebecca Hone, head of culture and community at Two Temple Place, said the building is the perfect location for such an exhibition.
鈥淚鈥檓 excited for visitors to see the exhibition: both those who know the building and those who are new to it,鈥� Hone said in an interview with 杏吧原创. 鈥淯sing this great historical building to showcase the modern and contemporary artwork depicting the stories of working-class people makes not only for an intriguing juxtaposition, but also to reflect its own history through the working class craftsmen who built it.鈥�
WATCH the of Weldon Flooring as they restore the floor of the Great Hall at Two Temple Place in 2024.
Never Seen Before Artistic Works
The free exhibition features more than 150 works of painting, photography, film, sculpture, and ceramics from working-class artists, many of which have never been shown before in London.
The display, which brings together a body of work from museums and galleries, archives, artists鈥� estates, and contemporary artists across the country, aims to explore and address the under or misrepresentation, stereotyping, and sensationalism of working-class life. It also celebrates the artists, enriches the narrative, and prompts fresh thinking about working-class people, their experiences, and identities.
鈥淚 have aimed to feature artists and photographers whose work challenges reductive, negative, and one-dimensional representations of working-class lives and communities: those that offer positive, celebratory imagery, but also those that reflect the complexity, nuance, and depth,鈥� said Manton. 鈥淏rought together, they challenge a canon that typically upholds the notion of working-class life as depressing, homogenous, undeserving of attention, only about poverty, crisis, and deprivation. The exhibition is a call to action for museums and galleries to ensure that more authentic expressions of working-class life are present on their walls and their collections.鈥�
Taking center stage in the atrium is an inaugural London-based presentation of two-channel film and sound installation, Soon Come. Also featured is early work by this year鈥檚 Turner Prize nominee,
Artists whose work is displayed range from 20th-century figures such as Beryl Cook and Monica Ross to less well-known ones including Sandra George and Eric Tucker. Artists like , , and highlight working-class communities, while , , and Masterji illustrate their quiet, interior lives.
Artworks by the likes of Rene Matic, , and demonstrate the plurality of working-class identity, showing how class intersects with gender, race, religion, sexuality, and migrant status. Acts of censorship and erasure are also brought to the fore in works by photographers Jo Spence and Sirkka Liisa-Konttien 鈥� and exemplified by Bert Hardy鈥檚 famous 1948 photograph, Gorbals Boys.
Among the key themes is family, with a focus on the home. This includes the work of male artists from the Kitchen Sink realism movement of the 1950s and working-class female artists of Feministo in the 1970s, as well as artists such as Kelly O鈥橞rien and , reflecting family histories and intergenerational class legacies in their work.
Diversity is another theme, reflected in photography of everything from working-class Muslim men in Birmingham to butches and studs from working-class backgrounds. The themes of plural identity and connections with place are on show in the library and main gallery respectively.
There will also be a program for all ages running alongside the exhibition, including creative workshops, artist talks, performances, and live music sessions.
鈥淥ur exhibitions tell stories that are not being told elsewhere,鈥� said Hone. 鈥淎s well as showcasing collections from outside London, we also share stories of people and communities who are underrepresented within the arts and arts organizations. So many of the objects in collections today are representative of middle-class and upper-class lives, and rarely those of people from working-class backgrounds. Lives Less Ordinary strives to redress the balance, challenging both the elitism of the arts sector and the exuberant opulence of the neo-Gothic building itself.鈥�
