THE HEPWORTH WAKEFIELD MEDIA KIT MEDIA CONTACT: IMAGE REQUESTS: Naomi Roberts, PR and Media Manager High resolution images & credits are available from T: +44 (0)1924 247 392 the Media Centre: www.hepworthwakefield.org/press M: +44 (0)7717 807 512 E: [email protected] For further assistance with images and credits contact: Lauren Fox, Development & Communications Assistant Twitter: www.twitter.com/HepworthGallery Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheHepworthWakefield T: +44 (0)1924 247395 E: [email protected] The Hepworth Wakefield is a registered charity, no 1138117. INTRODUCTION The Hepworth Wakefield is at the heart of Wakefield’s regeneration. Designed by the internationally acclaimed practice, David Chipperfield Architects, it measures 5,000 square metres and is the UK’s largest purpose-built gallery since The Hayward in London was built in 1968. The Hepworth Wakefield takes its name from the internationally acclaimed sculptor, Barbara Hepworth, who was born in Wakefield in 1903. It showcases Wakefield’s nationally important collection, which includes major works by Barbara Hepworth and her contemporary Henry Moore, born nearby in Castleford in 1898. The Wakefield Permanent Art Collection also holds key works by other leading British artists including Ben Nicholson, Jacob Epstein, Ivon Hitchens, Graham Sutherland, John Piper, Paul Nash, Patrick Heron, L.S. Lowry and Lucie Rie. The displays are enhanced by loans from the collections of Tate, the Arts Council, the British Council and private lenders. The gallery has 650 square metres of temporary exhibition space, making The Hepworth Wakefield one of largest contemporary art spaces outside London, described by The Times as ‘one of the world’s Top 50 art galleries’. Equipped with state-of-the-art learning spaces and a flexible auditorium, The Hepworth Wakefield offers an expansive programme of learning projects for all ages. This includes regular talks, lectures, performances, meetings and screenings, along with a welcoming café bar and a shop located on the ground floor. The Hepworth Wakefield is a major cultural asset for Yorkshire, enhancing the region’s reputation as one of the world’s leading centres for the exhibition and appreciation of sculpture. The £35 million development of The Hepworth Wakefield site is at the heart of Wakefield’s regeneration. It acts is as a catalyst for tourism and has attracted in excess of £350 million inward investment into the historically important Waterfront area of the city, with its listed mills and warehouses. The on-going development in Wakefield city centre includes a new retail projects Trinity Walk and a new market hall designed by David Adjaye. The £140 million transformation of Wakefield Merchant Gate has created a new business quarter for Wakefield and an £8.1m development of Wakefield Westgate train station opened in 2013 with the nearby Wakefield Kirkgate train station reopening in 2015 after a £5.6m redevelopment. The Hepworth Wakefield is funded by Wakefield Council and Arts Council England with additional funding from a number of charitable trusts and private individuals. THE HEPWORTH WAKEFIELD OPENING TIMES Tuesday – Sunday 10am – 5pm Closed Mondays (except Bank and local school holidays) Visit hepworthwakefield.org for details of late night openings Admission to the gallery is free 2 THE COLLECTION Wakefield’s art collection consists of over 5,500 works. At the core of the collection is a significant group of works by modern British artists including Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, who were both born in the Wakefield District. Established in 1934, the original Wakefield Art Gallery adopted an ambitious collecting policy with a core aim of nurturing an understanding of contemporary art. Works by the leading artists of the time, who have now become synonymous with shaping Modern British art, were acquired for the collection. They include Hepworth’s Mother and Child, 1934, and Moore’s Reclining Figure, 1936, representing an important period in the history of British art during which many artists such as Ivon Hitchens, Paul Nash and John Piper began to experiment with abstraction. Other leading British artists are represented in the collection: David Bomberg, Roger Fry, Harold Gilman, Duncan Grant, Ben Nicholson, Patrick Heron, Lucie Rie &William Scott. Since it opened in May 2011 The Hepworth Wakefield has significantly grown Wakefield’s art collection with works of art valued at approximately £7million. This has been achieved through seeking grants from Trusts and Foundations and actively cultivating philanthropic generosity from individual collectors and artists. Key acquisitions include works by recent Turner Prize nominee Anthea Hamilton, Frank Auerbach, Clare Woods, Eva Rothschild and, of course, Barbara Hepworth and now several hundred works from the recent Tim Sayer Bequest. THE HEPWORTH FAMILY GIFT The Hepworth Family Gift is a remarkable collection that is central to the gallery’s permanent collection. It consists of 44 of Hepworth’s surviving working models for her bronze sculptures, the majority of which were made in plaster. The Gift also includes a group of works by Hepworth’s artist friends, including paintings by John Wells and Breon O’Casey, and ceramics by Janet Leach. The collection reflects the variety of ways in which Hepworth used plaster and aluminium as part of her working process. She preferred to make prototypes on the same scale as the finished sculptures and would have worked directly on the majority of these models. The centrepiece of the Gift is the aluminium prototype for Winged Figure, 1961, the sculpture commissioned by John Lewis for their flagship store on Oxford Street. At nearly six metres high, this is the only working model to survive for the monumental commissions Hepworth received in later life. This generous gift was made by the Hepworth Family through the Art Fund and was one of the key reasons for building a new gallery for Wakefield, connecting Hepworth’s name with the city in which she was born and grew up. The Hepworth Estate has worked throughout with David Chipperfield Architects on the design of the two purpose-built gallery spaces devoted to The Hepworth Family Gift. THE GOTT COLLECTION An important attraction for visitors is the Gott Collection, gifted to the City’s art collection in 1930 and rarely seen prior to the opening of The Hepworth Wakefield. Through funding by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation this unique resource of 1,200 works on paper, including maps, topographical drawings and watercolours, depicting over 200 Yorkshire towns and villages and famous Yorkshire landmarks has been made publicly accessible via a digital database in May 2013. Collectively they show how Yorkshire has long been a place of artistic inspiration. Located opposite The Hepworth Wakefield, the Chantry Chapel is a major city landmark that can be viewed from the gallery. It proved to be a popular subject for a number of 18th and 19th century artists and was depicted by J.M.W Turner in 1797-8. In addition, the collection includes a group of work by regional artists such as John Buckler (1770-1851), John Coney (1786-1833), Rev. Thomas Kilby (1794-1868) and Louisa Fennell (1847-1930) that provide a comprehensive visual history of the development of Wakefield and the surrounding area. Until The Hepworth Wakefield opened in May 2011, the Gott Collection has largely been in storage. However, a conservation and digitisation project supported by the Esmée Fairburn Foundation has made it possible to display volumes from the collection and make this unique historical, artistic and educational resource more accessible through an online catalogue on The Hepworth Wakefield’s website. 3 THE CALDER The Calder is an ambitious project to re-purpose and re-invigorate Caddies Wainwright Mill, a 19th century former textiles mill on the River Calder, began in spring 2013. The ground floor of this historic building has been transformed into a new art space presenting an exciting programme of world-renowned contemporary artists, artist projects, performance and other events as well as continuing our award-winning learning activities. Opened to the public on 30 August 2013, The Calder celebrates the heritage of the waterfront site. This new space presents a great opportunity to attract even more visitors to this conservation area, providing a rich cultural context in which to see art, engage with artists and to explore the waterfront. The development of Wakefield over the centuries has been mostly due to its location on the banks of the river Calder and the ease of navigation from east to west. Across much of its length, the Calder is canalised and becomes the Calder and Hebble Navigation, forming part of the Aire and Calder Navigation, before it merges into the River Aire and joins the River Humber and the North Sea. The river was vital to the success of the textile industries in the local area and many major mills were constructed along its banks, particularly at Halifax, Huddersfield, Dewsbury and Wakefield. By the 19th century the area now known as Wakefield Waterfront was a thriving industrial area with around 35 mills established on this site as well as the boatyard which in still in operation today. Over the years the mills have had a variety of uses including corn merchants, textiles, wool processing and spinning. The Calder capital project is funded by Wakefield Council, who are the principal proprietor of the waterfront site adjacent to The Hepworth Wakefield. The exhibition and event programme will be funded from a number of charitable trusts, corporates and private individuals and will be match-funded in part through the Arts Council England Catalyst Arts programme. The Calder, Gallery Walk, West Yorkshire, WF1 5AW www.hepworthwakefield.org 01924 247360 Twitter: @HepworthGallery #TheCalder 4 LEARNING The Hepworth Wakefield is located in one of the 70 most disadvantaged areas in England, and over one quarter of the surrounding district’s population live in areas that are amongst the most deprived nationally (The Index of Multiple Deprivation 2010).