Metamorphosis: Titian 2012

The National Gallery (London, United Kingdom) presents this week Metamorphosis: Titian 2012, which will see a range of contemporary artists – including choreographers, composers, poets and visual artists respond to paintings by Renaissance master Titian. Their work will be displayed at the National Gallery and performed at the Royal Opera House by The Royal Ballet.

At the heart of this collaboration will be three of the greatest masterpieces by Titian in the United Kingdom – Diana and Actaeon, Death of Actaeon and Diana and Callisto. The aim of the project will be to demonstrate how masterpieces by Titian continue to inspire living artists today.

Three British contemporary artists: Chris Ofili, Conrad Shawcross and Mark Wallinger will create settings for new ballets at The Royal Opera House that will respond to the Titian paintings. Their work will be shown as an exhibition at the National Gallery, sponsored by Credit Suisse, in which the process of their response to Titian and the evolution of their own independent work of art will be demonstrated. Each artist will have a room in the exhibition space to show both preparatory studies for the ballets, along with new pieces created for the project.

Seven choreographers will collaborate with the artists to create an evening of three new works, in response to three great paintings by Titian and original music commissioned from leading British composers. Wayne McGregor will work with the Danish choreographer Kim Brandstrup, and Christopher Wheeldon will work alongside Alastair Marriott with Will Tuckett, Jonathan Watkins and Liam Scarlett.

Original music for the ballets has been commissioned from Mark-Anthony Turnage, Jonathan Dove and Nico Muhly. The performances will be the last body of work under Monica Mason as Director of the Royal Ballet and a performance on 16 July 2012 will also be relayed live on a big screen in Trafalgar Square.

The National Gallery will also run a New Poetry Project. The Project will commission a range of poets to write new work inspired by the Diana series, re-examining the Ovid text and its influence on Titian.The poets represent the quality and range of writing in Britain today which include poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy and Simon Armitage - winner of the Keats Shelley Poetry Prize 2010. Their work will be published in the accompanying catalogue.

The three Titian paintings are inspired by Roman poet Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The paintings depict the fatal consequences of a mortal tragically caught up in the affairs of the gods. They are remarkable for their powerful dramatisation of extremes in human emotion, with their rich array of colour, contrasting textures and atmospheric effects. As Titian took inspiration from Ovid, this programme will celebrate artistic creativity and, like the Olympics, link to ancient Greece.

Dates: from July 11 to September 23.
Location: National Gallery. Trafalgar Square. London WC2N 5DN.United Kingdom.
Opening hours: from Monday to Friday from 10am to 6pm. Fridays and Saturdays from 10am to 6pm. Sundays from 10am to 7pm.