CANCELLED Guest talk: Tate conservator Bronwyn Ormsby

Please note: This event has been cancelled

Ticket holders for this event will be contacted by our team or you may contact us at membership@aucklandartgallery.com

We thank you for your understanding of these changes, which are made for the wellbeing of our visitors, staff and volunteers.

 

Engaging with the surface - challenges, advances and reflections in the conservation of modern and contemporary paintings

Over the past 5 or more years, Tate has participated in practice-lead and practice-based collaborative research designed to overcome some of the specific challenges associated with the conservation of modern and contemporary painted art.

In this guest talk, Tate's Principal Conservation Scientist, Bronwyn Ormsby, will discuss three projects that centred around the meticulous modification and evaluation of treatment materials and methods for the removal of unwanted materials from a group of sensitive, visually and materially complex painted works of art from Tate’s collection: The Rothko Conservation Project (2012-14), the Cleaning Modern Oil Paints Project (2015-18) and the Nanorestart project (2015-18). A fabulous talk from one of the world’s most renowned conservators for anyone who’s interested in the stories about major contemporary artworks and museum practice.

About Bronwyn Ormsby

As Tate’s Principal Conservation Scientist, Bronwyn Ormsby manages the Conservation Science and Preventive Conservation section and carries out the spectroscopic and chromatographic analysis of Tate’s collection to support the conservation treatment process, research and programme. Bronwyn also leads research into twentieth- and twenty-first century art materials and conservation processes, and has a particular interest in the cleaning of unvarnished painted surfaces.

In 2012–14 she was the key scientist on the conservation project for Mark Rothko’s painting Untitled, Black on Maroon 1958. Following on from her longstanding research into artists’ acrylic paints, she is now leading Tate’s modern and contemporary art conservation research programme, including Tate’s contribution to two funded projects and two collaborative doctoral projects on the cleaning and preservation of modern and contemporary artworks.

Image Credit:
Corner detail of Mark Rothko’s Untitled, Black on Maroon, 1958
(Tate, T01170), prior to conservation treatment. © Tate.