Blavatnik Galleries

Co-exhibitors:

Peter Jackson,  Paul Nash, John Lavery, Laura Knight

The Blavatnik Art, Film and Photography Galleries exhibition was held at the  Imperial War Museum (IWM), London. David's work, Gateway II,  was selected for inclusion in the exhibition. For the first time in its history, since opening in 1920, the Imperial War Museum has dedicated a permanent gallery space to display visual arts, film, and photography. Visitors gained insights into the museum’s collection and interpretation of artistic responses to conflict.

The works of art, film, and photography displayed here emerged from human conflict. Since the Imperial War Museum’s inception in 1917, these works have been collected and reflect social, cultural, and political changes across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. They showcase the individual perspectives of their creators, providing a vivid account of modern war. These galleries explore the experiences and innovations of artists, filmmakers, and photographers, revealing them as powerful narrators who shape our thoughts and feelings about conflict.

Artworks on display will include Peter Jackson’s award-winning 2018 film They Shall Not Grow Old, which transformed original archive footage into colour for a reimagining of the First World War. Artworks from renowned artists from the First and Second World Wars will include works by Paul Nash, John Lavery and Laura Knight’s Ruby Loftus Screwing a Breech-ring, one of the most inspiring artworks to come from the period. More contemporary works include Paul Seawright’s Mounds, commissioned by IWM in 2002 to respond to the war in Afghanistan and photographs from John Keane who recorded the war in Iraq in 1991. Together, these objects reflect a century of seismic cultural, social and political change.