history
Lisson Gallery was founded in 1967 by Nicholas Logsdail. It was one of a small number of pioneering galleries in the UK, Europe and the United States to champion a generation of artists who were transforming the way art was made and presented, focusing on the idea or concept behind an artwork over expressive or descriptive aims. These young artists – including Sol LeWitt, Robert Mangold, Dan Graham, Donald Judd, Dan Flavin, Carl Andre, Lawrence Weiner, Art & Language, John Latham, Peter Joseph, Lee Ufan, Giulio Paolini, Daniel Buren - represented not a style but an attitude, an ethos concerning art's place in a wider intellectual, cultural and social context.
Over the past forty years Lisson Gallery has built on this foundation, identifying and supporting succeeding generations of artists, each with a radical and distinctive approach to the artistic possibilities of their times. The New British Sculptors who came to maturity in the early 1980s – Tony Cragg, Richard Deacon, Shirazeh Houshiary, Anish Kapoor, Julian Opie, Richard Wentworth and Bill Woodrow – engaged imaginatively with the sculptural object within a conceptual framework. In the 1990s, a more diverse group demonstrated a poetic conceptualism of image and language – Rodney Graham, Douglas Gordon, Ceal Floyer, Jonathan Monk, Christine Borland, Tatsuo Miyajima and Francis Alÿs – while other artists including Tony Oursler and Jane & Louise Wilson used the media of video and sound to create heightened visions of the social constructs of their age. A new generation has emerged in the first decade of 21st century – Gerard Byrne, Santiago Sierra, Allora & Calzadilla, Fernando Ortega, Sean Snyder, Tim Lee, Christian Jankowski – who explore the structures of representation and cultural value from global perspectives.
Building on its strong history, Lisson Gallery works to support the future of its artists: the legacy of historic figures, the continually evolving practice of established artists, and the wide-ranging potential of emerging and new talents.
From its beginnings, Lisson Gallery has been located in Bell Street near Lisson Grove, close to London's West End but also part of a dynamic and diverse local neighbourhood. It operates as a commercial gallery, its key objectives being to further its artists' careers by supporting the production, presentation and sale of their work
The Art Newspaper interview by Anna Somers Cocks October 2008
Images
Florian Pumhösl Installation view 52-54 Bell Street, 6 February -15 March 2008
Allora & Calzadilla Heat Cast , 2004 Steel, electrical wire, infra-red heating elements Variable
Portrait of Nicholas Logsdail
Gerard Byrne Installation view Lisson Gallery, 52-54 Bell Street, 23rd March 2007 - 4th May 2007
Sol LeWitt
Daniel Buren Photo-souvenir: Dislocated Skylight, Lisson Gallery, 29 & 52-54 Bell Street, 18th May 2007 - 23rd June 2007
Santiago Sierra Space closed by corrugated metal, Lisson Gallery, London, September, 2002
Lisson Gallery 52-54 Bell Street Designed by Tony Fretton Completed November 1991
Robert Mangold Installation view Lisson Gallery, 52-54 Bell Street, 17th March - 30th April 2005
Art & Language Secret Painting,1967-68 Liquitex on canvas and photostat Part 1: 92 x 92 x 5 cm Part 2 : 92 x 92 x 5 cm
Lawrence Weiner WITHIN A REALM OF RELATIVE FORM, 2005 Language & the materials referred to Lisson Gallery 29 Bell Street, 19th October - 23rd November 2005
Sol LeWitt Lines through, toward and to points 172 Lines through the center of the wall toward midpoints of sides and corners, 1973 Black crayon First drawn by Sol Lewitt & Nicholas Logsdail First installation: Lisson Gallery, London, May 1973
Art & Language Flags for Organizations ,1978 20 Cambric flags and 4 photostats Flags: 99 x 81cm each Photostats: 69 x 52.5 x 3.6cm each
Richard Wentworth Lightweight Chair with Heavy Weights, 1983 Laminated wood,steel,brass,lead & cable 76 x 38 x 39 cm
Tony Cragg Red Indian, 1982-3 Plastic 314 x 198 cm
Richard Deacon Installation view Range, Richard Deacon, Lisson Gallery, 52-54 Bell St, London, 30 November 2005 -28 January 2006
Tony Cragg Installation view Lisson Gallery, 52-54 Bell St, 17th May - 24th June 2006
Daniel Buren Photo-souvenir: New Situated Works, Lisson Gallery, 29 & 52-54 Bell Street, 18th May 2007 - 23rd June 2007, detail