Exhibitions

What does it mean for a sculpture to shine? How does surface communicate a sculpture’s concerns? This mezzanine exhibition, held in the sculpture galleries of Leeds City Art Gallery, draws from the sculpture collections of Leeds Museums and Galleries, as well as from public and private collections, to explore how making a sculpture shine affects its meaning.

The use of surface in the 1920s and 30s became a strong consideration as themes of reflection, regeneration and new beginnings were being explored by sculptors of the day. Fourteen examples have been selected for this exhibition to illustrate the new ways of exploring concepts of movement, music, wealth and value through the treatment of a sculpture’s surface. By looking at sculptures ranging from Eric Kennington’s The Diver, to Portrait of George IV by Leon Underwood, this study exhibition looks at a variety of treatments and using stone, wood and metal.

This exhibition brings together sculptures by Hepworth, Moore, Hermes, Underwood, Lambert, J.D. Fergusson, F.E. McWilliam and Carter Preston and runs in parallel to Second Skin, a major exhibition that explores the connections between the process of life casting and figurative sculpture, and also highlights the question of surface and the ways different surfaces can be achieved.