08/04/15
Making It: Sculpture in Britain
1977-1986
A Touring Exhibition from the Arts
Council Collection
Longside Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park
1 April – 21 June 2015
In the purpose-built Longside Gallery at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, the Arts Council Collection has brought together the work of 40 artists from between 1977-1986, a period that saw the emergence of a new young generation of British sculptors.
Following on from exhibitions of the
work of Garth
Evans (2013, curated by Richard Deacon) and Uncommon
Ground: Land Art in Britain 1966-79 (2014), which between them covered the
period from 1959-1982, where sculptural practice was very much ephemeral, conceptual, or based on
performance, this current exhibition looks at the early 80s, a time when
sculptural practice in the UK went back into the workshops to experiment with a
completely new approach of assembling.
With half the exhibits drawn from
the Arts Council Collection’s own rich holdings, and with women artists
featuring prominently, this exhibition celebrates the treasury of British
sculpture from the years leading up to the death of Henry Moore (himself not
included, but with a parallel exhibition of his work, Back to a
Land, on show in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park’s Underground Gallery and
open air).
A number of artists rose to
prominence during this period, but there has been a lack of publications and
survey exhibitions – until now. The exhibition is complemented by an excellent
publication featuring insightful essays by 12 critics, writers, gallerists and
curators.
Studio International spoke to
co-curator, Jon Wood, from the Henry Moore Institute, and Jill Constantine, head
of the Arts Council Collection, about how the exhibition came about and what
its main themes are.
To watch these interviews, please go to: http://www.studiointernational.com/index.php/making-it-sculpture-in-britain-1977-1986-jon-wood-jill-constantine-video-interview