Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2020 exhibition programme

Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale. 

Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) announces its 2020 exhibition programme with a list dominated by important women artists. These include YSP’s major show of the year and largest in the UK to date, by Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos; the first display of works by Dame Elisabeth Frink, gifted to YSP by the Estate of her son, René Lin Jammet; and a presentation of drawings and sculptures by French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle.
 
The focus on women continues with a survey of sculptors from post-war to the present day from the Arts Council Collection – Breaking the Mould: Sculpture by Women since 1945 – that aims to redefine the period. British artist Saad Qureshi explores the meaning of paradise in Something About Paradise in the Chapel, and Public Faces / Private Lives explores the depiction of identity through the work of a diverse range of contemporary artists.
 
YSP continues its series of exhibitions that bring together craft, design, illustration and the natural world with shows by ceramicist Alison Milner and illustrator Mark Hearld. The work on display is available for sale at YSP and online and income supports YSP’s exhibition, events and learning programmes.

Saad Qureshi: Something About Paradise  
4 January–15 March 2020
Chapel
British artist Saad Qureshi (b. 1986) explores what paradise means in a contemporary context in his first solo museum exhibition, Something About Paradise, at YSP from 4 January 2020. In the nave of YSP’s 18th century chapel, three monumental organic forms rise from the ground, spread with landscapes, buildings and mysterious structures. A closer viewing reveals an eclectic mix of architectural styles, from traditional temples and churches to modernist houses and palaces, nestled among panoramas of forests, deserts and fantastical geological formations.
 
Qureshi is an avid gatherer of stories. In developing Something About Paradise he travelled around the country asking those with and without faith what paradise means for them. Speaking directly to people allowed the artist space to interpret their descriptions of indistinct and imagined places, as seen in memories and dreams, into physical installations that he refers to as ‘mindscapes’. The exhibition has been supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council #england; and by Gazelli Art House, London.

Joana Vasconcelos
7 March 2020–3 January 2021
Underground Gallery and open air
YSP presents the UK’s largest ever exhibition by celebrated Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos (b. 1971) as its major show for 2020. Vasconcelos creates vibrant, often monumental sculpture, using fabric, needlework and crochet alongside everyday objects from saucepans to wheel hubs. She frequently uses items associated with domestic work and craft to comment from a feminist perspective on national and collective identity, cultural tradition and women’s roles in society.
 
Central to the exhibition, and suspended from the ceiling, is Material Girl (2015). This 23-metre form is made from hand-stitched pink and purple fabrics, sequins, crocheted panels and LED lights with tentacle limbs that reach out across the gallery. Material Girl is one of a series of dramatic works that represent ‘valkyries’ – female figures from Norse mythology who selected warriors on the battlefield worthy of a place in Valhalla. Their power is embodied within a dynamic mass of texture and colour that is intended to be both menacing and protective. 
 
Vasconcelos also frequently draws on the popular cultural imagery of Portugal. Pop Galo (Pop Rooster) (2016) is a 9-metre rooster, covered by 17,000 Portuguese glazed tiles or azulejos arranged in a variety of patterns and illuminated by 15,000 LED lights. The artist has taken two icons of Portuguese national culture – the rooster of Barcelos and ceramic glazed tiles to make a contemporary pop art statement that injects new life and drama into these national symbols. Since 2016, Pop Galo has been exhibited outdoors in urban settings in Lisbon, Beijing, Bilbao and Barcelos. At YSP it will be seen for the first time against a backdrop of 18th century parkland.
 
Vasconcelos’ work has been recognised with major exhibitions at the Palace of Versailles, Paris (2012), where she was the first woman and youngest artist to present a solo exhibition; and Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao (2018), where she was the first Portuguese artist to present a solo exhibition. The exhibition at YSP coincides with Wedding Cake a major new commission by Vasconcelos for the Rose Garden of Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire from 13 June.

Breaking the Mould: Sculpture by Women since 1945
An Arts Council Collection Touring Exhibition
4 April–16 June 2020, then touring
Longside Gallery
This major Arts Council Collection survey exhibition seeks to redefine post-war British sculpture by presenting a diverse range of work by artists identifying as women. The group show celebrates the strengths of sculpture made by women but also seeks to guard against the threat of this work slipping out of view. Through this deliberately restorative act, the exhibition seeks to inspire future generations, supporting the maxim ‘if she can see it, she can be it’. Breaking the Mould: Sculpture by Women since 1945 represents the work of over 45 sculptors including Barbara Hepworth, Elisabeth Frink, Kim Lim, Cornelia Parker, Rachel Whiteread and Anthea Hamilton. After its first presentation at Longside Gallery, Breaking the Mould: Sculpture by Women since 1945 will tour to The New Art Gallery Walsall; Djanogly Art Gallery; Nottingham Lakeside Arts; and Ferens Art Gallery, Hull.

Niki de Saint Phalle: Joy of Living  
2 May–6 September 2020
The Weston Gallery
French-American Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002) is widely recognised as one of the most significant artists of her generation. The exhibition Joy of Living brings together sculpture, works on paper and jewellery that demonstrate Saint Phalle’s enthusiasm for the natural world. It features original works on paper depicting animals, such as Gorilla (undated) and Monkey with Child (1995); bird sculptures from the mid-1970s; and works that reference the biblical story of the serpent as seducer, such as Snake Mirror (1998). Saint Phalle found strength and recovery in creativity and nature after a troubled early life. This exhibition opens alongside Elisabeth Frink: The Gift, which highlights similar themes, and an events programme with a focus on the wellbeing of humans and the planet. This exhibition is supported by Omer Tiroche Gallery, London.

Alison Milner: The Space Between Buildings
13 June–13 September 2020
YSP Centre
Designer Alison Milner makes ceramic homeware and tiles, furniture and illustrations from finely decorated bowls and beakers to large-scale murals and drawings in hospital settings and parks. She often explores the relationship between nature and the built environment through work made for domestic settings and public art projects. The work in this exhibition will be available to buy, including a limited edition illustrated ceramic tile created exclusively for YSP.

Public Faces / Private Lives
29 September 2020–7 March 2021
The Weston Gallery
Public Faces / Private Lives brings together work by a diverse range of artists who explore how we protect and manipulate our identities. The exhibition takes as it starting point the idea that we often present a different version of ourselves publicly. It looks at what we choose to make visible and what is concealed behind literal and metaphorical masks. It also reflects on perceptions of diversity and otherness, such as the emphasis on ‘unmasking’ by coming out in the LGBT+ community. The exhibition considers individual myth-making as well as societal and cultural norms associated with beauty, representation and visibility. 

Mark Hearld
21 November 2020–21 February 2021
YSP Centre
Illustrator Mark Hearld (b. 1974) is known for lithographs, paintings and collages that take inspiration from the flora and fauna of the British countryside. His exhibition at YSP will include a new collection of collages and paintings as well as limited edition three-dimensional pieces with a focus on plant life, foliage and animals. Hearld worked with traditional metal workers and mould makers from Stoke-on-Trent to create pieces exclusively for YSP, working with materials such as powder coated steel. All items are for sale, including a limited edition lithograph print printed at Coriander Studios in London and exclusive to YSP.

Women’s Voices in Art Education
National Arts Education Archive
23 May–6 September 2020
YSP manages the National Arts Education Archive (NAEA) as a centre for research and inspiration. In 2020, NAEA will present Women’s Voices in Art Education, an exhibition about women artist educators who played a part in the development of arts education in the 20th century, particularly during a period when teaching was one of the few acceptable professions open to women.
 
Royal College of Art and #yorkshire Graduate Awards
YSP presents a diverse programme that supports talent development at every stage of an artist’s career. This includes our annual visiting artist programme, Royal College of Art and #yorkshire Graduate Awards, for which artists at the beginning of their careers gain access to networking, mentoring and facilities to make work at YSP, often resulting in an exhibition. Recipients for 2020 will be announced later in the year.
 
Notes to editors

About #yorkshire Sculpture Park
Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) is one of the best places in Europe to experience modern and contemporary sculpture in the open air. We host work by some of the world’s most well-known artists from Yorkshire-born Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth to Phyllida Barlow, Damien Hirst, Ai Weiwei and many other major international and emerging artists across 500-acres of 18th century designed landscape and six galleries. We welcome almost 500,000 visitors every year to enjoy and experience art, the landscape and our heritage and organise events for families, schools and community groups for over 40,000 people. Founded in 1977, YSP is an independent charitable trust and registered museum.  
 
Creative Case for Diversity
Diversity and equality are crucial to the arts because they release the true potential of our nation's artistic talent – from every background. At YSP, we support Arts Council England’s mission – great art and culture for everyone. We share ACE’s commitment to promote and embed diversity in our workforce and cultural programme. This is called the 'Creative Case for Diversity'.
 
About Arts Council Collection
The Arts Council Collection is a national loan collection of British art from 1946 to the present day. With nearly 8,000 works and more than 1,000 loans made to over 100 venues a year, it is seen by millions of people in public spaces from galleries and museums to hospitals, libraries and universities. Representing one of the most important collections of British modern and #contemporaryart in the world, it includes work from Barbara Hepworth, Tracey Emin and Henry Moore to Mona Hatoum, Anish Kapoor and Grayson Perry. The Collection supports and promotes British artists by acquiring art at an early stage of their careers. The Arts Council Collection is managed by Southbank Centre, London and includes the Sculpture Centre located at Longside, #yorkshiresculpturepark.