The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture - Phyllida Barlow

Anyone who read my postgraduate dissertation will recall that I have a fondness for the work of Phyllida Barlow, and once again, she does not disappoint. Barlow's work is on the cusp of sculpture and installation. The viewer can stand back and admire the sculpture or can enter into the work, walking amongst the rough concrete pillars.

Although this work has been exhibited before in Des Moines, Iowa, Barlow has obviously put a lot of thought and planning into how it can be re-exhibited in The Hepworth as it responds to and commands the architecture of the Gallery. Moving around is an adventure, and one is continuously changing their understanding of the work as different elements are revealed and new aspects discovered. For instance, once I had scrambled through the structure, I was surprised to be faced with a stunning array of coloured boards that formed the roof of the structure I was just moving through. Out of the darkness I found brightness from these 'roof tiles'. 

In one corner of the gallery a number of right-angled boards lead up the wall, bringing ones attention back into the gallery. 

A bundle of black cables hangs in the opposite corner. The friend that I am visiting with thinks it resembles a sun, but I am less convinced. There is already lots to take in, and I do not think any more is necessary.

The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture - David Madalla

It is fair to describe David Medalla's practice as varied and expansive. In his 70 year career, the work he has made includes painting, sculpture, participatory work, kinetic art, installation and performance. The different works presented in this exhibition are a good representation of his multidisciplinary approach.

For the exhibition at The Hepworth Gallery, Medalla exhibits one of his so called Auto Creative Sculptures, Cloud Canyons.

Cloud Canyons consists of a number of clear plastic pipes standing in a circular plinth. Foam is forced up and out of the tubes, and as the foam rises, it doubles back on itself and falls down the tubes and the cycle begins again. I find it mesmerizing; rather like watching flames in an open fire. The natural rhythm and movement of nature.



I find the work in the other room far less engaging. Medalla invites the audience to contribute to A Stitch In Time, another work from the sixties that Medalla is exhibiting at The Hepworth. Fabric is suspended in the gallery, and visitors are encouraged to sew any items they wish to onto the fabric. As is often the case with such participatory work, we are left viewing an accumulation of rubbish, used train tickets, shopping lists and chocolate bar wrappers. Surely we've moved beyond this kind of work.

David Medalla, Sand Machine, 1963/2015 from Venus Over Manhattan on Vimeo.


http://www.hepworthwakefield.org/about/hepworth-prize-for-sculpture/the-hepworth-prize-for-sculpture-shortlist-david-medalla/

https://www.a-n.co.uk/news/pictures-of-the-hepworth-prize-for-sculpture-exhibition

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/david-medalla-7213

The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture - Helen Marten

Having only seen Helen Marten's work in image form as opposed to the actual thing, I was curious and excited to get to experience it first hand. 

Marten's use of an eclectic mix of materials appeals to me, and I enjoy the way in which she forms relationships between seemingly unconnected objects and surfaces. Materials used in her work on display at The Hepworth Gallery include a tennis ball, dried vegetables, wood, steel, screenprinted leather and fired clay.

Read more at:

http://www.hepworthwakefield.org/news/helen-marten-wins-the-first-hepworth-prize-for-sculpture/

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/nov/17/helen-marten-wins-hepworth-prize-for-sculpture

https://www.a-n.co.uk/news/helen-marten-wins-inaugural-hepworth-prize-for-sculpture

The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture - Steven Claydon

Over the next few blog posts I am going to guide you through one of the current exhibitions at The Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield, namely The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture. 

The experience of Steven Claydon's work begins as one walks through a curtain of yellow plastic, the kind that could be found in a factory or supermarket, as the fringe separating the shop floor from behind the scenes in the stockroom. Claydon tests the boundaries of sculpture, making work that often engages multiple senses including smell and sound. In this work Claydon has infused the curtains with citronella, a scent used to repulse mosquitoes and midges. 

He uses materials in inventive and surprising ways, sometimes creating objects that appear to be made from a material such as wood but that are actually made from a substance such as polyurethane. Seemingly historic artefacts are positioned in relation to contemporary objects, prompting the viewer to question what they are looking at and question how they value such things. 

Claydon made use of one of the freestanding walls in the gallery. "He covered it in dark blue magnetic film, then threw pennies at it." From afar it resembles a constellation of stars in a nights sky, but only on closer inspection does it become apparent that it consists of pennies attached to the background.

Of the four artists included in the Hepworth Prize for Sculpture, I felt most distant from Claydon's work. It might be Claydon's use of trickery that I find dissatisfying. A barrier is created between the artist and the audience, the artist being the one with the upper hand and the knowledge, and the audience as those who are being deceived. This has the effect of making the work seem dishonest and cold. If it were not for one of the gallery invigilators who told me a story behind one of the works, I would be unaware of the references to Jurassic Park. Claydon's work seems very impressive and intelligent, but I felt separate from it and found it difficult to engage with on a deeper level. That said, the skill that goes into making the work is evident and it is good to see an artist who obviously enjoys making beautiful objects.

                                      
Read more at: 

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/what-s-on/arts/art-on-the-edges-1-8198783

http://theartnewspaper.com/news/news/new-hepworth-sculpture-prize-launches-with-exhibition-in-wakefield/

http://www.wallpaper.com/art/the-inaugural-hepworth-sculpture-prize-nominees-exhibition#177880

The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture at The Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield

During my visit to Yorkshire this Christmas I was keen to check out the The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture at The Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield. The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture is the UK's first Prize for Sculpture. It is a new £30,000 biennial award that recognises a British or UK-based artist of any age, at any stage in their career, who has made a significant contribution to the development of contemporary sculpture.  It is an integral part of The Hepworth Gallery's 5th anniversary celebrations and named in honour of Barbara Hepworth.

The 2016 shortlisted artists are (in alphabetical order):

- Phyllida Barlow
- Steven Claydon
- Helen Marten

- David Medalla

Simon Wallis, Director of The Hepworth Wakefield and Chair of the Selecting Panel said: “We are delighted to have such a strong and diverse shortlist for our inaugural Prize and are looking forward to working with these artists and to inspire and engage our audiences with the medium of sculpture. It is particularly fitting that we launch the first Prize of its kind, here in the heart of the Yorkshire Sculpture Triangle.”

He added: “While there is no shortage of prizes in the art world, few specifically recognise sculpture and it is our aspiration to redress that with the launch of one of the UK’s most important new awards. We have based the selection of the four shortlisted artists on the significance of their contribution to sculpture in its broadest definition.”

http://www.hepworthwakefield.org/news/the-hepworth-wakefield-announces-the-four-shortlisted-artists-and-judging-panel-for-the-uk-s-first-prize-for-sculpture/

The Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield

Whilst in Yorkshire over Christmas, I made my first visit to The Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield. The building is divided into 10 gallery spaces, and is home to a collection of over 5000 works. At the core of the collection is a significant group of work by modern British artists including, most notably, Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore who were both born in the Wakefield district. A section of the gallery is devoted to work from this collection.

We visited on a day when there was an outdoor ice carving workshop.



In Toby Ziegler's exhibition titled Expanded Narcissistic Envelope, the artist has created new work in response to the WW1 plaster frieze from Wakefield's collection, No Man's Land, 1918-19 by war memorial artist Charles Sergeant Jagger. On a formal level, Ziegler has echoed the shape of the frieze in his aluminium sheet which is elegantly supported by an aluminium framework. This framework also connects to the next sculptural element in the installation, a giant foot made out of cardboard.



Whereas I could relate both of these elements to the source material, I found it difficult to see the link to the 3D printer that produces a Newell teapot every day. This final element of the installation seems disparate, and the link made in the textual information supporting the exhibition is very tangental, almost like it is something that the artist is interested in, but that has no relation to the work produced for this show. 

As my friend and I contemplated the exhibition, we watched as many of the visitors were automatically drawn to the 3D printer without even considering the rest of the work. On the day that we visited, the 3D printer was not working, but I'm not sure whether this would have affected my enjoyment of the piece had this not been the case. I found myself rather frustrated by the fact that the technical equipment was what most people were interested in, yet I didn't think that it was an important element of the installation.

Alexandra Bircken's solo exhibition Eskalation demonstrates her fascination with materials such as latex, leather, wood and foam.



Folkert De Jong has drawn upon the collections of armour and contemporary weapons held by the Royal Armouries in his exhibition The Holy Land.



The group exhibition Sculpting the line: British Sculptors as Printmakers explores the links between sculpture and print. Although the surface of prints is often two-dimensional, printmaking as a process can involve methods commonly used by sculptors such as engraving, or carving, and prints can be two-dimensional representations of three dimensional forms. It was fascinating to see how artists have used both approaches in their practice.