Yorkshire Sculpture International is a festival of sculpture delivered by the Yorkshire Sculpture Triangle made up of the Henry Moore Institute, The Hepworth Wakefield, Leeds Art Gallery and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. From new work by international artists to sculpture drawn from world-class collections, the festival showcases the breadth and diversity of contemporary sculptural practice, inspiring audiences to rethink what they understand the form to be.

At the Henry Moore Institute, Phyllida Barlow’s assertion that ‘sculpture is the most anthropological of the art forms’ brings together five extraordinary artists whose work looks at the relationship between material culture and an understanding of human history, present and future. Within the trajectory and methods of anthropology lie the foundations of history and all social sciences. Objects play a pivotal role in that framework, with material culture often made to function as a form of black box recorder that can play back history, identity, belonging and difference. The exhibition at the Institute reflects upon this responsibility of objects.

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Yorkshire Sculpture International in Leeds
Video credit: Film by Nick Singleton

At the Henry Moore Institute

Tamar Harpaz - Gallery 1

Combining light, mirrors and domestic objects, Tamar Harpaz's sprawling sculptural installation Current teases a tangible, yet unstable, relationship between material culture, memory and communication.

Rashid Johnson - Gallery 2

Taking in portrait busts, minimalism and the human need to make and engage with materials, Rashid Johnson has created a new installation of sculptures made entirely from shea butter.

Maria Loboda - Gallery 3

Inspired by anthropology, linguistics and archaeology, Maria Loboda unravels the assignation of meaning to symbols and objects throughout history, reimagining them into new combinations.

Cauleen Smith - Gallery 4

Smith's film Sojourner, presented here as part of a new installation, reimagines the Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Art Museum in Joshua Tree, California, as a radical feminist utopia.

Sean Lynch - Sculpture Research Library

Sean Lynch reveals unwritten stories and forgotten histories, and in this exhibition delves into the life and work of 'Flint Jack', a notorious nineteenth-century antiquarian, forger and vagabond.

Elsewhere

To see the full festival programme of exhibitions, events and public commissions visit yorkshire-sculpture.org

Leeds Art Gallery

At Leeds Art Gallery a series of solo shows and new commissions for Yorkshire Sculpture International will explore the breadth of contemporary sculpture-making, with works by Nobuko Tsuchiya, Rachel Harrison, Joanna Piotrowska, and Damian Hirst. Ayşe Erkmen, three of four, 2019 is a new installation in response to the Central Court in Leeds Art Gallery.

Also on display is Woodwork: A Family Tree of Sculpture, which responds to Phyllida Barlow’s provocation that ‘sculpture is the most anthropological of the art forms’ by considering wood as the most anthropological of materials.

The Hepworth Wakefield

For Yorkshire Sculpture International at The Hepworth Wakefield, the galleries are populated by established and emerging artists in a series of new commissions and debut UK presentations.

Centred around the theme of ‘truth to materials’, the exhibition will investigate the idea that a sculptural form should be determined by the characteristics of the chosen materials, and features works by Jimmie Durham, Wolfgang Laib, Nairy Baghramian, and Tau Lewis.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park

YSP is presenting exhibitions by well know sculptors such as Damian Hirst and David Smith, as well Kimsooja: To Breathe, an enthralling installation using light and mirrors and the latest in a series of projects exploring meditative qualities of space.

Associated Matter shows new work made ofver the last six months by the five YSI Associate Artists: Ryoko Akama, Rhian Cooke, Natalie Finnemore, Jill McKnight and Rosanne Robertson.