Year Ahead 2019 Media Release

Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) presents its 2019 artistic programme, featuring major indoor and open-air exhibitions and ambitious interventions in the landscape.

Highlights include a comprehensive exhibition in the Underground Gallery and open air of sculpture by David Smith, part of the inaugural Yorkshire Sculpture International, produced in partnership with the Henry Moore Institute, Leeds Art Gallery and The Hepworth Wakefield.

Delhi-based artists Thukral and Tagra will invite families, friends, and strangers to wrestle with the issues faced by farmers in India through an immaculately conceived installation. Bread, Circuses & TBD, inaugurates The Weston Gallery in YSP’s new building, The Weston designed by Feilden Fowles.

South Korean artist Kimsooja will transform the historic Chapel with an enthralling installation using light and mirrors, building on a series of projects exploring the unique and meditative quality of this space.

Following 2018 residencies, Dillan Marsh and Eleanor Clare have produced an app for visitors to experience their new work The Poacher’s Lament & Other Half Heard Tales. Our graduate awards continue through a partnership with the Royal College of Art, as well as through the new Yorkshire Graduate Award to support a Yorkshire-based student.

David Smith, Primo Piano III, Selling shows continue to showcase the UK’s best-known artists and designers at the 1962 courtesy Collection of Candida and Rebecca Smith; same time as providing an essential income stream for the Park. Ella Doran’s Sheep to David Smith, Untitled (Zig VI), Seat, Fleece to Floor celebrates British wool and the circular economy. 1964 courtesy Tate Dillan Marsh and Eleanor Clare The Poacher’s Lament & Other Half Heard Tales From 20 March 2019 Open Air 2018 visiting artists, Dillan Marsh and Eleanor Clare, return to YSP to showcase a project that explores the connections between real and imaginative spaces, inspired by the history of the Bretton Estate and traditions of folk tales and lullabies. The Poacher’s Lament & Other Half Heard Tales is a digital and audio artwork developed from onsite research, field recordings and archive material, which visitors can experience using headphones via a smartphone app. It features a collection of fictional narratives spoken, sung and performed by both real and fictional characters, and creates a multi-sensory experience for visitors as they wander around the Park.

A launch event on the spring equinox will see two masked figures representing mythological gatekeepers lead a processional performance tour around Upper Lake to celebrate the turning of the seasons. Informed by the space between sculpture and landscape, ancient monuments and ritual, Marsh and Clare’s work considers Dillan Marsh and Eleanor Clare our relationship with the land. This project is supported by Bergen Kommune, Woods, Upper Lake Billedkunstnernes Verderlagsfond and Office for Contemporary Art (OCA) Norway. Courtesy the artists Kimsooja: To Breathe 30 March–3 November 2019 Chapel Kimsooja’s work references and takes inspiration from traditional forms of female labour and craft, such as sewing and weaving, to investigate the role of women. Her work also considers the concept metaphorically, seeing the body as a needle that weaves together the fabric of lives, cultures and cities, celebrating a shared humanity regardless of geographical borders.

For over 25 years Kimsooja has used the form and idea of ‘bottari’ – the South Korean word for a bundle wrapped in fabric, which the artist identifies as “a self-contained world – but one which can contain everything like a vessel, materially and conceptually”. Having made a number of physical bottari in fabrics, Kimsooja extended the idea to incorporate larger spaces and even architecture, meaning that whole buildings could also be wrapped to alter, contain and re-shape what was within.

To Breathe in the Chapel will deftly transform the space and blur boundaries. The floor, covered with a mirrored surface, will provide an entirely new way of seeing, seeming to open up and unfold the space, making solid surfaces and confining structures appear fluid and expansive. Diffraction film on the windows will introduce a myriad of Kimsooja rainbow spectrums across the space, reflected infinitely. Responsive to the natural To Breathe: Bottari, 2013 Mixed media installation environment, the installation will change according to light quality and intensity, making with The Weaving Factory, every experience different and unique. Within this visually spectacular and meditative 2004–2013 The artist’s voice performance environment, visitors will hear the sound of the artist breathing, creating an intimate sound, 5.1 channel, 9:14, loop. shared encounter. Photo by Jaeho Chong. Thukral and Tagra: Bread, Circuses & TBD 30 March–1 September 2019 The Weston Gallery Known internationally for their highly engaging and profound projects that raise awareness of important issues in the world today, Thukral and Tagra continue their ongoing investigation into ‘kushti’, a traditional form of wrestling practiced across India, with a new installation, Bread, Circuses & TBD.

Informed by their long enquiry into game theory, including their research into the Don Pavey Collection held in the National Arts Education Archive (NAEA) at YSP, Farmer is Wrestler is an interactive game that invites participants as players to try out seven traditional wrestling manoeuvres, echoing the game of ‘Twister’. Paintings take the form of a traditional wrestling arena split into sections along with figures and diagrams that dictate the rule of the sport. Participants land on numbers, rather than colours, which each represent the challenges faced by farmers in India, and across the world, such as global warming, suicide, agrarian distress, and drought.

The exhibition shows the duality of the figure of the farmer as a wrestler, staging Thukral and Tagra Bread, Circuses & TBD strategies for survival against a complex set of challenges. The work explores not only Artist Impression their psyche but the body and human form as a site for endurance and strength. Courtesy the artists Criminal Ornamentation Yinka Shonibare curates the Arts Council Collection Longside Gallery 5 April–16 June 2019 Criminal Ornamentation explores the cultural and social dimensions of the use of pattern in art. The exhibition title refers to Adolf Loos’ Ornament and Crime (1908) a strongly worded essay in which Loos ridiculed the use of ornament as an indication of poor taste and the lowest level of cultural development. In contrast to this modernist taste for minimalism, Shonibare’s practice often celebrates pattern and ornament, for example in his use of Dutch wax print fabric. With works drawn mainly from the Arts Council Collection, Criminal Ornamentation seeks to celebrate the radical deviancy of pattern.

Artists featured include Timorous Beasties, Boyle Family, Susan Derges, Joe Fletcher Orr, Laura Ford, Ed Lipski, Alexander McQueen, Milena Dragicevic, Lis Rhodes, Bridget Riley, Yinka Shonibare CBE, Caragh Thuring and Bedwyr Williams. This is the latest touring exhibition from the Arts Council Collection which can also be seen at: Attenborough Arts Centre, Leicester (21 September–16 December 2018); Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter (19 January–16 March 2019); and Southampton Art Gallery, Southampton (28 June–28 September 2019). Bedwyr Williams The Burn, 2012 Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London © the artist Ella Doran: Sheep to Seat, Fleece to Floor 15 June–15 September 2019 Upper Space Award-winning designer Ella Doran showcases the transformation of wool in her most ambitious project to date. Sheep to Seat, Fleece to Floor follows the journey of sheep wool, from shearing to scouring, design to spinning, to create an exhibition of beautiful bespoke furniture, furnishings and photographic prints, all of which are available to buy. An homage to local products, suppliers and processes, the exhibition highlights the importance of the circular economy in reducing waste and sustaining livelihoods and traditions. Following a residency at the Park in 2016, which culminated in new product ranges for YSP Shop, Doran worked with the Park’s neighbouring farmer to amass wool from the sheep that reside in the Country Park. After scouring by Haworth Scouring, the wool was transformed by British manufacturers, Camira and Alternative Flooring, and features Doran’s Waterlake design, a distinctive and colourful pattern which mirrors the movement of the lakes and plant life at YSP. The exhibition is accompanied by a short film by Paul Wyatt.

Ella Doran Courtesy Paul Wyatt and British Wool David Smith As part of Yorkshire Sculpture International 22 June 2019–5 January 2020 Underground Gallery and Open Air The first Yorkshire Sculpture International, a festival produced with our partners, Henry Moore Institute, The Hepworth Wakefield and Leeds Art Gallery, takes place from Saturday 22 June to Sunday 29 September 2019. The renowned sculptor Phyllida Barlow, a ‘provocateur’ for the event, has informed the curatorial direction of the programme with a series of thought-provoking statements, including ‘sculpture is the most anthropological of the art forms’, responding to the idea that there is a basic human impulse to make and connect with objects. At YSP, this takes shape through a major project by David Smith, one of the 20th century’s most important and influential sculptors.

The first American artist to work with welded metal, Smith was hugely influential to the development of international abstract sculpture, and is regarded as the principal sculptor of the American Abstract Expressionists. With few works in non-US public collections, he is relatively rarely seen or shown in Europe and this project is the most significant since Tate Modern’s 2006 exhibition. For YSP, which marries superb galleries and landscape with scholarship and rigorous curation, the exhibition marks a milestone in a series of critically acclaimed monograph exhibitions by eminent sculptors that include Henry Moore, Isamu Noguchi, Eduardo Chillida and Joan Miró.

Important sculptures and works on paper show the development of Smith’s sculptural practice, and the importance of his life at Bolton Landing in upstate New York. It includes works and artefacts from Smith’s home which have not previously been seen and works that have not been seen for many decades. Smith aligned himself to an anthropological trajectory, embracing the creative continuity that connects humanity across millennia, connecting to an ancient tradition of making and fettling.

This exhibition examines the immediacy of his sculpture; its sometimes obdurate, sometimes tactile nature; its shared space with man, machine, and natural forms; and the social/human impulse through which Smith developed abstraction from the automotive factory and foundry. The exhibition draws out Smith’s understanding of the social practice of art – vividly illustrated by his 1930s Medals of Dishonor and 1955 lecture, The Artist in David Smith Gondola II, 1964 Society, and of his belief in an outward-facing, international United States that valued its Courtesy Estate of connectedness to the wider world. David Smith Ruth Ewan & Oscar Murillo 13 July–3 November 2019 Longside Gallery A significant work in the 56th Venice Biennale, Frequencies is a long-term project by Colombian-born artist Oscar Murillo in collaboration with members of his family, the political scientist Clara Dublanc and thousands of children around the world. Canvases are fixed to school desks for six months and pupils aged between 10 and 16 can mark them in any way – there are no rules. This exhibition includes canvases made by children at schools in nearby Castleford, the birthplace of Henry Moore.

In the centre of the gallery, Mrs Pyrah by Ruth Ewan is an interactive installation which recreates a Castleford primary school classroom from the 1970s. Inspired by the holdings of the National Arts Education Archive (NAEA), visitors will experience the teaching methods of Muriel Pyrah, a pioneering local teacher who enabled highly disadvantaged children to achieve significant progress. The project continues Ewan’s celebration of activists and radical thinkers. Her work takes many forms including performance, installation and printed matter and her practice explores overlooked areas of political and social history, reviving these forgotten thoughts and ideas and highlighting their continued Muriel Pyrah in the classroom relevance today. courtesy the NAEA Holly Hendry 21 September 2019–19 April 2020 The Weston Gallery Holly Hendry presents a new sculpture installation developed with pioneering materials, such as synthetic skins. Through research with the University of Huddersfield – in particular Professor Parikshit Goswami of the Institute of Skin Integrity and Infection Prevention – Hendry’s new direction of work explores the creative and unique possibilities of such new media.

Hendry graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2016 and quickly established a highly productive and respected practice. She was chosen by Helen Pheby, Head of Curatorial Programme at YSP, and Selfridges, as the inaugural artist for the co-curated Art Block in Selfridges’ London flagship store. The resulting installation Phyllis, at nearly four-metres tall, featured rubble spoil from the construction of the new Duke Street Accessories Hall, referencing issues of waste and recycling. The work takes its name from one of the Holly Hendry, Phyllis, 2018 digging machines which had to be abandoned underground after excavating tunnels for Courtesy the artist and the London Crossrail dig. Selfridges Alfredo Jaar: The Garden of Good and Evil From 21 September 2019 Open Air Following YSP’s major 2017 exhibition by pioneering Chilean artist Alfredo Jaar, The Garden of Good and Evil (2017), an important work generously donated by a/political with support from the artist, will be unveiled on the southern shore of the Park’s Lower Lake. On entering what appears to be an enchanted wood, visitors will experience nine elegantly fabricated steel cells, which reference ‘black sites’, the secret detention facilities operated by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). An additional cell is located in the water of the lake. Each cell has a one-metre-square base inspired by the poem, One Square Metre of Prison (1986), by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish (1942–2008) who was imprisoned and spent much of his life in exile.

Widely regarded as one of the world’s most politically engaging yet poetic artists, Jaar addresses humanitarian trauma and the politics of image-making, creating visually and emotionally stunning works that have an exceptional aesthetic. Trained as a magician and subsequently as an architect, Jaar often uses constructed spaces and light to navigate what is seen and what is not. The Garden of Good and Evil joins other significant permanent land-art works in the collection, including the Deer Shelter Skyspace by James Turrell, Hanging Trees and Outclosure by Andy Goldsworthy, and 49 Square and Black Mound by David Nash. The installation also sees the launch of The Garden of Good and Evil publication, documenting both iterations of the project and with essays by Griselda Pollock, Jon Bird, and Clare Lilley. Alfredo Jaar, The Garden of Good and Evil, 2017 courtesy the artist, New York, a_political Photo © Jonty Wilde Melvyn Evans 16 November 2019–23 February 2020 Imprinting the Land Melvyn Evans will reveal a new body of work inspired by the Yorkshire landscape and coastline, all of which is available to buy. Widely exhibited throughout the UK, including at the Royal Academy, the Royal College of Art and Somerset House, the Kent-based artist initially trained as a marine engineer spending time working on submarines, before becoming a professional artist in 1992. Since this time, Evans has developed a signature style of strong, bold imagery, with inspiration coming from artists such as Edward Bawden, Eric Ravilious, Henry Moore and the St Ives School. His work is informed by the British coastline, its landscape and working practices. Monuments, chalk figures, coastal paths, fishing boats, and Thames barges all play a part in the artist’s work, evoking a Melvyn Evans, Landscape sense of place by recognisable landmarks and the use of a carefully considered colour with Blackbird courtesy the palette. artist National Arts Education Archive The National Arts Education Archive (NAEA), based at YSP, will build on its 2018 exhibition Art, Games and Play: Don Pavey and Other Collections with a Tate Exchange Research event in partnership with Chester University at Tate Liverpool from 6 to 13 January 2019. Later in the year, the archive will contribute to the UNESCO Memory of the World programme, a travelling exhibition of selected work from the International Research and Courtesy the Franz Cizek Collection Archives Network, while the Archive’s annual lecture by John Atkinson in May will explore Photo © Sarah Beaumont 50 years of educational change in the UK. NAEA © Jonty Wilde Notes to the Editor Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) is the leading international centre for modern and contemporary sculpture. Welcoming around 500,000 visitors every year, YSP is an independent charitable trust and registered museum situated in the 500-acre, 18th-century Bretton Hall estate in West Yorkshire.

Founded in 1977 by Executive Director Peter Murray, YSP was the first sculpture park in the UK, and is the largest of its kind in Europe. It is the only place in Europe to see Barbara Hepworth’s recently restored The Family of Man in its entirety alongside a significant collection of sculpture, including bronzes by Henry Moore and Joan Miró, important pieces by Phyllida Barlow, Roger Hiorns and Ai Weiwei, and site-specific works by Katrina Palmer, Andy Goldsworthy, David Nash and James Turrell.

YSP mounts a year-round temporary exhibitions programme including some of the world’s leading artists across six indoor galleries and the open air. Recent highlights include exhibitions by Giuseppe Penone, Chiharu Shiota, Alfredo Jaar, Tony Cragg, KAWS, Bill Viola, Anthony Caro, Fiona Banner, Ursula von Rydingsvard, Amar Kanwar, Yinka Shonibare MBE, and Jaume Plensa.

Across its 41-year history, YSP has worked with over 1,000 artists from more than 40 countries, on varied projects from short-term residencies to major surveys. YSP supports artists at vital stages in their careers and is rare in having the facilities and expertise to enable open-ended and risk-taking practice, as well as the space and time to think and develop new ideas.

Over this time, YSP has sought to ignite, nurture and sustain interest in and debate around contemporary art and sculpture, especially with those for whom art participation is not habitual or familiar. It enables open access to art, situations and ideas, and continues to re-evaluate and expand the approach to considering art’s role and relevance in society. Supporting 45,000 people each year through YSP’s learning programme, this innovative work develops ability, confidence and life aspiration in participants.

Media Enquiries Svetlana Leu, Sutton / +44 (0)20 7183 3577 / [email protected] Kerry Chase, Senior Marketing & PR Officer +44 (0)1924 832 515 / [email protected] Download images at ysp.org.uk/ysp-media / Follow @YSPsculpture

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