Bags to see at park
A series of new open air artworks are a welcome addition to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, writes Yvette Huddleston. Main picture by Gary Longbottom.
The Yorkshire Sculpture Park really is a very special place. No matter how many times you visit, its unique combination of stunning landscape and beautiful artworks is guaranteed to raise the spirits, engage the intellect and feed the soul. And, for those who are missing visiting art galleries and exhibitions at the moment it can continue to offer some much-needed solace in these difficult times – its outdoor areas remain open during this third national lockdown. There are 500 acres of parkland to explore where you can enjoy nature and at the same time discover artworks by Barbara Hepworth, Anthony Caro, Damien Hirst, Andy Goldsworthy, Sean Scully, Ai Wei-Wei, and Elizabeth Frink, to name just a few. “I think we are needed now more than ever,” says curator Sarah Coulson who has worked at the YSP for 20 years. “Throughout the past few months, it has been the arts that have kept people going – that is what we have turned to. And here people can access art outdoors and feel safe. Art in the open air has obviously always been an important part of what we do – it is where we started, so in a way we have kind of gone right back to our beginnings. People are really enjoying the opportunity to get outside, to have that change of scenery and engage with art at the same time.”
There are always around 80 sculptures and installations to see in the open air. The collection is made up of long and short-term loans, sitespecific commissions and gifts from artists and individuals. The outdoor display is refreshed and added to on a regular basis, so there is always something new to see, and in the run-up to the festive period at the end of last year several exciting new works were unveiled which will be on display throughout the winter months and beyond. Some of the pieces are by artists who have a long association with the
YSP, but one is from an artist whose work has not been shown there before. Kalliopi Lemos’s work Bag of Aspirations 2018, which takes centre stage on the Formal Garden Terrace, is a magnificent large-scale work, a scaled-up version of the famous much sought-after and extremely expensive Birkin handbag created by the French fashion house Hermès. The piece makes a bold statement about the values and desires of modern consumer culture.
“Kalliopi is a fascinating artist
– I really hope that we can show more of her work at some point,” says Coulson. “She is making work which is engaged in quite challenging political issues, exploring what it means to be a woman in today’s society, about being pulled in many different directions – and she has been creating pieces that deal with human rights and other pressing issues in a visually exciting way.” Bag of Aspirations highlights how the yearning for material possessions in the developed world can sometimes eclipse basic humanity – and how within that context some objects take on a significance and value that outstrips care and concern for the lives of others. “There is an expressly political undertone to the piece,” says Coulson. “The suggestion is that the bag would be valued more than the lives of all those displaced people fleeing war and conflict.”
Technically the work is extremely impressive – the folds and creases of the leather, which look so soft, supple and textured, have been forged in steel. “It is an incredibly well-made sculpture, a real visual treat and it works on so many levels,” says Coulson. “Kalliopi uses this term ‘tools of endearment’ and it sums up the interesting dichotomy that you get in her work.”
Other works on display include the return of two much-loved colossal works by Henry Moore – Large Two Forms and Large Spindle Piece – situated in the YSP’s Country Park, one of Moore’s favourite areas because of its rolling hills and far-reaching views. “It has been wonderful to have those pieces back here,” says Coulson. “They are comforting and familiar and I think that is so important at the moment. Those pieces are inspiring too, because they are a bedrock of where we grew from, and they look incredible out there in the wintry landscape.” Towards the bottom of the valley is another of the recently arrived pieces – William Tucker’s large-scale sculpture Monumental
Dancer After Degas 2018 which is actually bronze but looks like a huge, solid rock formation that absolutely belongs in the rugged landscape of the Park. The YSP has a long association with Tucker whose work has been shown there many times and featured in its opening exhibition in 1977.
“He is a really important figure in the history and development of sculpture in Britain,” says Coulson. “We try and tell the story of sculpture here and how it has developed and changed and we try to reference some of those artists who have had a key influence in that story.” Back