Tuesday, 10 April 2018
Introducing Anna Titov
135 artists featured in "Inside Job" which took place on the 7th and 8th of April on Level 6 of Tate Modern and was visited by over 3,000 people. The Rebel Magazine has been chatting to some of the Tate staff who showed their artwork. Today it's the turn of Anna Titov
Q) Where did you grow up and what kind of education did you receive?
"I was born in Moscow and lived there until my family moved to sunny Walthamstow, East London, when I was 3 years old. I lived in Potsdam near Berlin when I was 10, and then returned to Berlin for another year when I was studying. I grew up painting and studied art up to GCSE level in school but in the end I went to Queen Mary to do a BA in German and linguistics (focusing mostly on German philosophy towards the end) and I continued making art on the side. This is when I started to get into comics and cartoons and I ended up doing regular strips for the campus newspaper. Since graduating I've gone back to art full-time as a lazy illustrator mostly but I'm in the process of applying for a drawing MA for next year.
Q) How long have you been working at the Tate and what's the best show you've seen there?
"I started working at Tate full time during the World Goes Pop and Alexander Calder exhibitions in late 2015. I'm now on zero hours and come in about once a month for a shift and a gossip.
My favourite show might actually be Alexander Calder. I loved how each work produced shadows that changed from every perspective you looked at them from, especially the portraits and their expressions. They were like suspended 3D line drawings. It was the only exhibition where I preferred walking around with a crowd around me, because all that hustle made the mobiles float around gently."
Q) What can you tell me about the work you're exhibiting in the Tate Modern show?
Last year I went back to Russia for the first time since I was a child and I had a very difficult time there for many reasons, mostly because I had to take on the role of foreigner in a place that I have a strong cultural connection to from my upbringing but that I also feel completely separate from with regards to its current political climate.
I'm slowly trying out painting again after a long break. The imagery is made up of childhood memories, Soviet films I grew up watching, and rooms I've slept in. St Basil's Cathedral is a very colourful and happy-looking place that seemed like a harsh contrast to how I felt while I was there, and it kept popping up in my dreams after I came back like it was taunting me, kind of like Pennywise from It.
Q) How can people find out more about your work - do you have a website or do Instagram?
I have an Instagram @aatitov but due to my life being a big joke I don't actually have a smartphone so my posts are rather rare for now.
I have also spent about 2 years (definitely too long) working collaboratively with a friend on a children's book and if I finally pull my socks up it should be published this Summer. It's about a tree that goes to sea.
Q) What's the best thing about working for the Tate?
"It's a very inclusive and non-judgemental group of people, you always feel like you're working with your close friends no matter what position you're all in. I started working at Tate with neon orange hair and clothes that looked like they'd been in battle and no managers ever said a thing.
Aside from the time where I wore Crocs to work every day. They said something then."
"Inside Job": An exhibition of art by Tate Staff will took place on Level 6 of the Blavatnik Building of Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG
Monday, 9 April 2018
Introducing Jennifer Vacher
135 artists featured in "Inside Job" which took place on the 7th and 8th of April on Level 6 of Tate Modern and was visited by over 3,000 people. The Rebel Magazine has been chatting to some of the Tate staff who showed their artwork. Today it's the turn of Jennifer Vacher
Q) Where did you grow up and what kind of education did you receive?
"I grew up in south east London with my mum and received my secondary education at Bexley Grammar School & Sixth Form. I studied art as one of my GCSEs, which I thoroughly enjoyed until one of my teachers started lacking interest in my work due to our conflicting tastes, and so I soon found it uninspiring and went on to focus on languages whilst doing the International Baccalaureate. I then went on to study French and Italian at University of Leeds, but sadly had to drop out after a year and a half due to ill health. This September, I'll be starting Ba Scandinavian Studies (focusing on Norwegian language) at UCL, which is incredibly exciting. My greatest inspiration at school, however, was my English teacher for the IB, who really encouraged and nurtured my interest in literature, and who actually inspired me to begin writing poetry, a book of which I published in September 2016."
Q) How long have you been working at the Tate and what's the best show you've seen there?
"I started working at Tate when the new extension opened, so it's coming up to two years now. My favourite show during my time working there was definitely Soul of a Nation - it was incredibly refreshing to see such a varied range of work from an important period of modern history in one exhibition that wasn't dominated by or focused on white male artists."
Q) What can you tell me about the work you exhibited in the Tate Modern show?
'Untitled (Portrait)' is a raw and intimate example of self reflection that stemmed from the poem featured in the middle, which was written approx. a year and a half ago, following a period of severe mental illness and hospitalisation. The actual paintings that feature came at later dates, when I was in a position to reflect upon the themes in the poem once again. The idea of the piece is to present the feeling of a gradual descent into uncertainty and fragility, which is why I predominantly used the colour green and strung the piece up using just pegs and string. I'm glad I was able to show it in the Inside Job Exhibition, as it is a reminder of what I have overcome now that I am able to freely display such a vulnerable aspect of my past.
Q) How can people find out more about your work - do you have a website or do Instagram?
I have an Instagram: @jenniferelizabethvacher and you can find my book on Amazon here
Q) Is there anything you have to declare / do you have a favourite quote, thought or joke you'd care to share?
"not / all matterings of mind / equal one violet" - from poem 64 of 95 Poems by E. E. Cummings
"Inside Job": An exhibition of art by Tate Staff will took place on Level 6 of the Blavatnik Building of Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG
Saturday, 7 April 2018
50 Inside Job Photos
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