Artwork of Ed Atkins scrutinizes mortality at Tate Britain exhibition
Ed Atkins' Exhibition at Tate Britain Explores Self-Representation and Technology
Ed Atkins' latest exhibition, titled simply "Ed Atkins," is now open at Tate Britain in London, running from 2 April to 25 August 2025. The show offers a career-spanning retrospective of the artist's work, presenting a multiplicity of formats that blend digital art with intimate personal narratives.
Atkins' work delves into themes of identity, grief, and the tension between virtual and physical realities, reflecting on human emotion and modern existence by repurposing technology to highlight its connection to personal and emotional experiences. His show at Tate Britain offers a critical examination of the digital mediation of human presence and emotion, using advanced technology not as a mere tool but as a central expressive medium to explore the construction and fragility of selfhood today.
The exhibition features digital avatars, video installations, drawings, embroideries, and writing. One of the most recognizable bodies in Atkins' videos is an everyman avatar, purchased for $100. In Pianowork 2 (2023), Atkins' actual form is recreated using motion capture technology. Another notable work is Nurses Come and Go, but None for Me (2024), a two-hour film featuring actor Toby Jones reading diaries written by Atkins' father following his cancer diagnosis.
Atkins' work is characterized by a melancholy that permeates it, but his new show presents a lightness not previously seen, balanced with melancholy. The theme of love and joy is a new addition to Atkins' work, differing from the emotional ambiguity in many of his pieces.
Atkins often explores the limits of existence and essence, questioning whether our likenesses or thoughts, feelings, and words define who we are. He discusses the digital avatars in his show as a form of death, lacking a specific humanness. The artist reflects that no one could use his show to know who he is, suggesting that even he does not fully understand himself.
The show surveys 15 years of Atkins' work and includes large-screen videos, drawings, text pieces, and eerie, undulating beds. An imposing installation of previously worn opera costumes on high rails is also featured. Atkins draws a mass of Post-It-note drawings for his daughter during the pandemic, which are included in the show. One drawing features the artist's head attached to a spider's body.
Atkins' work is described as an 'anti-heroisation of life', and his new experimental memoir Flowers continues this theme. He also mentions a sense of loss in his work that cannot be named. Despite this, a new, paternal warmth can be found in his work, attached to the love of his children.
Visit tate.org.uk for more information on Ed Atkins' exhibition at Tate Britain.
[1] "Ed Atkins: A Retrospective," Tate Britain, 2025. [2] "Ed Atkins: A New Lightness," The Guardian, 2 April 2025. [3] "Ed Atkins at Tate Britain: A Career-Spanning Retrospective," Artforum, 2 April 2025.
The exhibit, "Ed Atkins: A Retrospective," at Tate Britain offers a comprehensive look at the artist's career, comprising multiple formats that seamlessly blend digital art with intimate personal narratives. Visitors can expect to encounter digital avatars, video installations, drawings, embroideries, and writing, delving into themes of identity, emotion, and technology.
Exploring the digital mediation of human presence and emotion, Atkins' work in this exhibition uses advanced technology as a central expressive medium to investigate the construction and fragility of selfhood today. The show's unique perspective offers a critical examination of the role of technology in our lives and its impact on our understanding of ourselves.
