Review of the Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield

Review of the Hepworth

I recently visited the Hepworth gallery in Wakefield, with my College. I have been wanting to visit the Hepworth for a while so this was the perfect opportunity. These pieces particularly caught my eye.

Made from bronze and string

Made from plaster and string

These pieces are titled Spring, 1966. Both are made by Barbara Hepworth and found in Gallery 1. Hepworth chose an abstract form pierced with hole in the center. The influence could either be the natural landscape or the human form. The piece is very good at drawing you in. The artwork draws you in, funneling your vision into the center of the piece through the use of the strings. The artist follows a predominately abstract theme, and uses a limited colour palette of white, pale blue, brown, and the natural colour of the bronze. Mainly using the medium of plaster, bronze and string. The artist chose these materials because they wanted to pieces to be permanent. The artwork was displayed well on white plinths, which meant they were at eye level so they catch your eye more. The white gallery space is quite relaxing. 'The pierced and stringed cast bronze of Spring, 1966, uses an innovative sculptural form that breaks open the solid object and activates it with colour. ' Collection Displays Autumn '11, The Hepworth Wakefield, taken from: http://www.hepworthwakefield.org/what-s-on/collection-displays/ [ONLINE] accessed 01/04/13. This quote captures what makes Hepworth's sculptures so popular. Her sculptures are quite iconic and it is easy to tell if a sculpture is hers. These pieces were commissioned for her personal interest, although there was one piece in the Gallery, which was commissioned for John Lewis.   From looking at the sculptures, they remind me a lot of hollowed out eggs, this notion is echoed by the colour scheme. These sculptures are smallest of the collection, but still quite big, at around 850 mm in size. For anyone interested in sculpture, this is a definite must visit gallery.   

Here are the couple of pictures I took. 

Spring, 1966

Two forms in wood