Trip to Yorkshire Sculpture Park

'All Schools Should Be Art Schools' by Bob and Roberta Smith, 2017

During the first few weeks of university, I went on a trip to Yorkshire Sculpture Park. I've visited a few times previously with family as it's one of my favourite places to go. Yorkshire Sculpture Park is one of the UK's largest open-air exhibition spaces, set across 500 acres of lakes and woodlands. It showcases work from British and International sculptors with exhibitions changing throughout the year. I love how the sculptures are placed around the grounds, almost becoming part of the landscape while creating a juxtaposition between the natural world and man-made structures. Many of the sculptures are made using materials like steel, bronze or natural materials like wood in installations such as 'The Oak Project' (The Oak Project, 2021).

Although I would have loved to draw some of the landscape and sculptures while there, it rained and we were quite pushed for time so I made sure to take lots of pictures to refer back to. Some of the exhibitions were still there from my previous visit so I have lots of primary imagery to utilise in my project work. With a limited timeframe, we aimed to stay do the outdoor exhibitions first then work our way up to the shop and indoor gallery to cover everything before returning home. This plan worked well and I managed to buy a book in the gift shop. I'm going to review the book in another post but it's called 'Abandoned Places' (Rensbergen, 2020) and follows Rensbergen's trips to Abkhazia, Croatia, Italy and Portugal through mesmerising photographs of derelict and deserted buildings, forgotten in time. I've always found these photos interesting and like reading the stories behind them. In addition, it's good secondary research for my 'Edgelands and Ruins' personal project so I'll be doing some response work for this soon. 

'Abandoned Places' by Henk van Rensbergen, 2020

Outdoor Exhibitions

Trees: From Alternative Landscape Components, 2005-6, Dennis Oppenheim

I've seen the exhibition twice and still find the concept fascinating. The installation consists of around 10 metal tree-like structures made of objects live toilets, baths, dog houses and kitchen sinks, arranged in a curiously distinctive way. It reminds me of the aftermath of the tornado in The Wizard of Oz where all the objects have been displaced and chaos has enveloped the landscape. Oppenheim's aim was to present sculpture differently saying 'As counterparts for nature, trees, hedges, rocks, things in nature have a reason for being sculpture that sculpture often doesn't haven't a reason for being' (Dennis Oppenheim, interview with Robert Ayers, n.d.). With this, he creates a juxtaposition and makes the audience question its purpose and ideologies around what a sculpture is. 

In relation to my current project, 'Edgelands and Ruins' I think this is an interesting concept to link with my idea of an industrial landscape, looking at how things are left behind in an almost tornado-like manner.

Black Mound, David Nash, 2013

Although this sculpture was small in comparison to others like Damien Hirst's figurative sculptures, I loved how it fitted into the landscape in a discreet and harmonious way. I saw this by the lake while walking to other parts of the park but it was fairly hidden, away from the main walking trails. It reminded me of folklore with an air of magic hidden in the woodland like little rock trolls. I couldn't find a plaque but with further research, I found out that it is made from coal and oak charred black, made to challenge perceptions of tranquillity and danger.

Large Two Forms, Henry Moore

Henry Moore is someone I want to research more as I think the work he created was so radical and avant-garde for his time. He died in 1986 and is regarded for his abstract bronze sculptures depicting his representation of the human form. I love this sculpture and find it so interesting, both the form and material have so much character and this park frames i beautifully. I took quite a few pictures from different angles so would like to draw this as a follow-up response. Moore was the first patron of YSP and wished for his work to remain in the park forever as it was so close to where he grew up in Castleford. 

Although sculpture is far from my chosen specialisms, I find them so fascinating, how they reflect light and cast shadows in peculiar ways depending on their surroundings. There's so much thought that goes into sculptural work that is sometimes overlooked when an audience struggles to understand its purpose. Furthermore, my appreciation for Moore expands as his audience at the time probably didn't understand the purpose of his work, whereas now, he is regarded as one of the worlds most celebrated artists. 

'The Hat Makes the Man', Damien Hirst, 2004-2007

'Crate of Air', Sean Scully, 2018

Other sculptures I enjoyed came from Sean Scully: Crate of Air and Damien Hirst: The Hat Makes the Man. Both are very different with Scully showing the power of large-scale sculpture. This beautifully constructed piece stands out across the park and is inspired by his paintings with grids and lines weaving through the structure in an almost architectural way. I also loved the hat piece by Damien Hirst, showing his effortless experimentation for creating odd sculptures. This one will be fun to draw and think about how you could collage objects together to form a new abstracted piece. I also took inspiration from the grounds, I love nature and exploring new places so this combines art with the calming feeling of being surrounded by nature.

Indoor Exhibitions

We briefly got to see the exhibitions in the gallery by Joana Vasconcelos entitles 'Beyond'. The collection of sculptures explores the complexity of love through colourful woven 3D forms. I loved the energy of these pieces, you could tell there was a lot of emotion that the artist was trying to convey to the audience. I also found some other pieces in the gallery that interested me, like the old fashioned telephones that were hung in the shape of a gun. 

Overall I really enjoyed this trip and appreciate my tutors planning these trips through the year as they allow you to experience art in the real world, rather than through research online. I hope we can have more trips like this in the future and I definitely plan on returning to Yorkshire Sculpture Park soon to see future exhibitions. 

Rensbergen, H., 2020. Abandoned Places. Belgium: Lannoo.