Walk On: 40 Years of Art Walking

Including a wide array of media including photography, installation works, and film, a new group exhibition collates a diverse group of international artists - all inspired by their sojourns on foot. An accompanying note to the showcase at the PM Gallery & House in London underlines its core aim and thought as follows:

• From land art and conceptual art to street photography and the essay film, across the last four decades many artists have acted as explorers whether making their mark on the rural wilderness, documenting small journeys, or undertaking close examination of the urban environment around them.
• Artists such as Richard Long have crossed countries and continents to create their works, leaving traces of their movement on the land itself. Others exhibit photography, texts or artifacts as documentation of their journeys. For Hamish Fulton, the walk itself is the work and anything else only evidence. For Marina Abramovic, it’s a form of performance over time, as seen in her epic journey across the length of the Great Wall of China, a symbolic act of separating and then reuniting with her then collaborator Ulay.
• Tracing and mapping is a recurring theme throughout the exhibition: from Chris Drury’s weaving of maps of his walks in the mountainous region of Ladakh and Rachael Clewlow who inventively mark their steps with GPS devices, creating systems to record daily walks and so immortalizing everyday routines. In his Windwalks, Tim Knowles strolls about London, his route determined by the ways in which the wind whips through the streets.
• Whether serendipitous or by design, the walks undertaken have formed the starting point for many important artworks of the past 40 years. Marina Abramovic, Francis Alÿs, Tim Brennan, Janet Cardiff, Rachael Clewlow, Mike Collier, Chris Drury, Alec Finlay, Hamish Fulton, Tracy Hanna, Tim Knowles, Richard Long, Melanie Manchot, Julian Opie, James Hugonin among others present their works in the show. Indian artist Atul Bhalla’s work also forms part of this thematic exhibition.

So if you’re keen to be part of something interesting during the ensuing Easter break, ‘Walk On: 40 Years of Art Walking’ is worth an option to consider. The PM Gallery & House hosts several contemporary art exhibits and events the whole year round from established artists and curators.