The independent group at the Institute of Contemporary Arts : its origins, development and influences 1951-1961

Abstract of Ph D. thesis. University of Kent at Canterbury Contents / Acknowledgements / General introduction to the work 1. 1951 and Before: the Establishment of the ICA (British art c.1935-51; the concept and development of the ICA; early ICA exhibitions; the Institute's Dover street premises) 2. 1952: the Genesis of the Independent Group (Some dissatisfaction amongst the ICA's YOlli1ger members; early organised meetings of the Independent Group; members of the Independent Group) 3. 1953: the Independent Group Develops - Contributions at the ICA (Early Independent Group concerns and their manifestation in the ICA programme; the social and cultural background of Independent Group members; the exhibition Parallel of Life and Art) 4. 1954: Focusing Interests - the 'Fine Art/Pop Art Continuum' (Independent Group activities inside and outside the ICA; the emergence of Lawrence Alloway and John McHale as important members of the Group; the concept of the 'Fine Art/Pop Art Continuum') 5. 1955: Formal Meetings and the Concept of ' Multiple Connectivity' (Organised meetings of the Group; the exhibition Man, Machine and Motion; the 'investigations' into expendability, mass communication and popular culture, and the institutionalisation of 20th century art, using the method of 'multiple connectivity') 6. 1956: Theory into Practice - This is Tomorrow (Events at the ICA involving Independent Group members; the House of the Future; the organisation of This is Tomorrow ('l'IT ); the exhibits of 'l'IT, with special reference to the role of e:x-member;-of the Independent Group) 7. 1957-58: Outlets f or Independent Group Ideas - Ark and the Paintings of Richard Hamilton -- (The role of Ark in the dissemination of Group ideas; the influence upon painters a t the RCA; the 'pop' paintings of Richard Hamilton and their relation to Group discussions ; exhibitions and events of 1957-58) 8. 1959-61: Further Limits of Independent Group Influence - Architectural Design, the Cambridge Connection and Pop Art (The role of Architectural Design in the dissemination of Group ideas; rCA events which involved ex-members of the Group; Cambridge Opinion and the Scroope Group; the relation of the Independent Group to Archigram and the RCA's 1961 Young Contemporaries) 9. 1962 and Beyond: Myths Created and Myths Modified (The waning of Independent Group influence at the ICA; the Group's challenge to existing interpretations of 20th century art and especially to pre-war Modernism; the Group's influence upon the post-1960 pop aesthetic.