There goes the neighbourhood: neon Santas take over Tate
HOUSES covered in kitsch Christmas decorations are not to everyone’s taste. But home owners who like to go a little OTT in the festive period will be delighted to know that they have the art world’s seal of approval.
This Christmas, Tate Britain’s elegant porticoed entrance will be lit up with reindeer, snowmen, Father Christmas, Santa Stop Here signs and a hundred other decorations.
It is the creation of Alan Kane, an artist commissioned by Tate to produce a work with the theme “Home for Christmas”. His work “blurs the distinction between innovation and tradition, the amateur and professional, and perceptions of high art and low culture through the insertion of familiar and often comic objects into artistic contexts”. His materials are “off-the-shelf decorations, the likes of which can be seen on homes up and down the country during the Christmas season”.
The lights will be switched on tonight and will be visible across the Thames. Kane’s previous work includes a series of televised nude life drawings, a six-foot tall mechanical elephant called Snowdrop, and an installation in conjunction with the Turner Prize-winner Jeremy Deller that invited viewers to make a cup of tea.
Alex Farquharson, director of Tate Britain, said: “Alan’s ultra-festive response is sure to turn heads – of those both young and old. We look forward to unveiling other surprising festive artist commissions in the years to come.”