This Is Tomorrow

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"This Is Tomorrow" was a seminal art exhibition in August 1956 at the Whitechapel Art Gallery. The core of the exhibition was the Independent Group. It was conceived by architectural critic Theo Crosby who had attended a congress in Paris in 1954 on the drawing together of fine and applied arts. The exhibition included artists, architects, musicians and graphic designers working together in 12 teams, an example of multi-disciplinary collaboration that was still unusual. Each group took as their starting point the human senses and the theme of habitation. The exhibitions most remembered exhibit was the room by Richard Hamilton, John Voelcker and John McHale, with collaboration from Magda and Frank Cordell. It included the Op Art Dazzle panels, collage Space modules, and Pop Art readymades of a Marilyn Monroe poster, a film advertising billboard of the Forbidden Planet, Robby the Robot and a Jukebox, the endless reel of film depicting the Royal Navy Fleet at sea, and the design of the Pop art collage poster were all provided by John McHale. The catalogue also featured essays by Reyner Banham and Lawrence Alloway. Colin St John Wilson designed the exhibition guide; Edward Wright designed the catalogue for This Is Tomorrow, and it was printed by Lund Humphries.

The TIT show is now considered a watershed in post-war British Art and in some respects kick started the development of the British arm of Pop Art.

Parts of This Is Tomorrow were recreated in 1990 for an exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Arts.

[edit] Artist Teams in Exhibition

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Group One: Theo Crosby, Germano Facetti, William Turnbull, Edward Wright
Group Two: Richard Hamilton, John McHale, John Voelcker
Group Three: J. D. H.Catleugh, James Hull, Leslie Thornton
Group Four: Anthony Jackson, Sarah Johnson, Emilio Scanavino
Group Five: John Ernest, Anthony Hill, Denis Williams
Group Six: Eduardo Paolozzi, Alison and Peter Smithson, Nigel Henderson
Group Seven: Victor Pasmore, Erno Goldfinger, Helen Phillips
Group Eight: James Stirling, Michael Pine (CMHC Ottawa architect), Richard Matthews
Group Nine: Kenneth Martin, Mary Martin and John Weeks
Group Ten: Robert Adams, Frank Newby, John Weeks, Colin St. John Wilson
Group Eleven: Adrian Heath, John Weeks
Group Twelve: Lawrence Alloway, Geoffrey Holroyd, Toni del Renzio