Unilever Series

Unilever Series The Unilever Series was a sequence of major site-specific commissions presented in the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern in London between 2000 and 2012. Funded by Unilever and curated by the Tate's contemporary programs, the series invited international artists to produce large-scale installations that engaged the industrial architecture of the Turbine Hall and the museum’s global audience. The commissions intersected with initiatives by institutions such as British Council, Arts Council England, and connected to practices represented by galleries like Gagosian Gallery and White Cube.

Background and commission

Conceived after the opening of Tate Modern in 2000, the commission aimed to transform the former Bankside Power Station turbine space into a platform for ambitious contemporary art projects. The Turbine Hall, with its scale comparable to venues like St Paul's Cathedral nave and industrial sites such as Emscher Park, offered artists unprecedented spatial challenges; the program drew on precedents set by large-scale installations at Palais de Tokyo, Kunsthalle Basel, and the Documenta exhibitions. The partnership with Unilever reflected patterns of corporate sponsorship seen with BP Portrait Award and collaborations between cultural institutions and multinational companies, prompting debates about patronage similar to those surrounding Guggenheim Museum sponsorships. Curators such as Bryan Robertson, Nicholas Serota, and teams at Tate negotiated artist briefs, health-and-safety, and logistics with engineering firms and fabricators experienced in projects for venues like Serpentine Gallery and Hayward Gallery.

Artists and installations

The series commissioned a roster of international artists, producing works that ranged from immersive environments to monumental sculptural interventions. Early projects included commissions by Anish Kapoor and Dan Graham, while high-profile entries featured Olafur Eliasson with a mirrored installation that referenced works by James Turrell and Walter De Maria. Other notable contributors included Yayoi Kusama, whose polka-dot and mirror environments resonated with the legacies of Yves Klein and Marcel Duchamp; Ai Weiwei, who brought political resonances akin to exhibitions at Serpentine Sackler Gallery; and Ragnar Kjartansson, whose performance-based works echoed practices by Marina Abramović and Tino Sehgal. Installations often required collaborations with architects and engineers associated with firms like Arup and Foster + Partners; fabrication drew on workshops with specialists linked to Royal Academy of Arts and international biennales such as Venice Biennale and São Paulo Art Biennial.

Exhibition design and public engagement

Design teams reconfigured the Turbine Hall environment using lighting, sound, and structural interventions, engaging audiences familiar with programming at Southbank Centre and Barbican Centre. Projects emphasised public accessibility, aligning with outreach practices of National Gallery education departments and cross-platform initiatives similar to BBC Arts collaborations. The scale encouraged millions of visitors annually, comparable to attendance figures at Louvre Museum and Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and fostered partnerships with transport hubs such as London Underground for wayfinding. Educational programs and lectures often featured curators and critics from institutions like Courtauld Institute of Art, Goldsmiths, University of London, and invited commentators from publications such as The Guardian, The Times, and Artforum.

Critical reception and impact

Critical response to the series was mixed, with acclaim for ambitious artistic risk and critiques focused on corporate patronage and site commercialization. Supporters compared certain commissions to landmark works in the history of installation art, invoking names like Richard Serra, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, and Robert Rauschenberg. Detractors invoked controversies around sponsorship seen in debates over BP and environmental concerns, and critiqued challenges similar to those raised about blockbuster exhibitions at Tate Britain and Metropolitan Museum of Art. The series influenced curatorial approaches internationally, informing programming at venues such as Centre Pompidou, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and regional institutions including Baltimore Museum of Art and Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.

Legacy and discontinuation

The series concluded amid changing priorities in corporate sponsorship and institutional strategy, ending in 2012 as Tate reassessed large-scale commissions and partnerships in the wake of debates involving sponsors like Shell and BP. Legacy outcomes included a redefinition of the Turbine Hall’s programming, inspiration for site-specific commissions at Hamburger Bahnhof and MAXXI, and influence on artists’ careers comparable to the impact of awards like the Turner Prize and exhibitions at Venice Biennale. Archives documenting the projects are preserved within Tate Archive and referenced in academic work at institutions such as University College London and Royal Holloway, University of London. The series remains an important chapter in the history of 21st-century contemporary art, reflecting intersections between multinational funding, institutional ambition, and large-scale artistic production.

Category:Tate Modern