Pass the Art

Our random Art Pass number, drawn out of a box took us to Wakefield today. We struck gold. I’ve been to The Hepworth a number of times before, but the current Temporary Exhibitions coupled with the gallery namesake’s permanent works, interplayed incredibly well together to present a tour de female force.

Caroline Walker : Morning at little bugs

I was mesmorised by this piece. A 3.8m x 2.5m oil painting. So much so that I sat and let is soak in for a good 5 minutes. Picking up on the parenting theme (this was part of a large collection by Caroline Walker called ‘Mothering’) I started a monologue of my thoughts to my 18 year old daughter along the lines of;

“The two parts of the piece… with the physical line down the middle almost compartmentalise the two sets of people. The mother and the slightly older child and the group of smaller ones sitting. The older child seems to be caught between taking a step away from this younger generation and teetering on the edge of stepping into another world one step closer to adulthood. I love the compositional traits at play here; the multiple triangulation points; they physical props and the Sightlines… and… “

I then realised, my daughter had wandered off and I was left talking to myself – not quite myself – but a bemused gentlemen stood behind me with his baby in a front carrier.

Inspiration stuff – non the less. I found Caroline’s skill to paint light an absolute master class. Since the dawn of photography, painters have battled with the concept of photo realism – but some, like Caroline go one step beyond real and do something that photography would struggle to do. The light in the ‘Ultrasound’ picture was stunning – hard to believe that it was reflected, not transmitted light.

Speaking of reflected light.. fun fact; The Hepworth Wakefield worked with Atelier Ellis to deliver a specific, custom set “breathable, bio based paint” colour for the walls holding the art. ‘Gallery white’ wouldn’t have done these exhibitions justice. A collection of 7 colours in total were used, of which 3 were used in the Caroline Walker space, others, in the Helen Chadwick: Life Pleasures exhibition.

Helen Chadwick

One of the most important artists of our time. Sadly, Helen passed at a young age, but her legacy lives in in more ways that just the physical art. A re creation of her original piece ‘Carcass’ dominated the room in both it’s sight and (not sure if this was intentional), it’s smell. Manifested as a 2m high perspex (the original was glass) box. In it, food waste rotting away. The movement of bubbles: signs of life, from the darker composting activity taking place, the pressure of weight from the decomposing top half, weighing down on the bottom and the potential of creating new life. The circle of life.

In almost a juxtapose contrast, another piece was a massive bubbling vat of melted chocolate. The smell of this was sicky sweet, overpowering – perhaps, in a good way.

Speaking to one of the staff, we learned about how Chadwick taught and mentored some of our most important British artists including Damian Hirst and Tracey Emin. A font of knowledge stood next to a font of chocolate.

A world class gallery

We all took something away from our visit. These reflections are just the tip of the iceberg from me, a thoroughly enjoyable and inspiring visit for us all.

It’s got an ‘island’ vibe to the place. Surrounded by water – in some ways this reminded me of the Louvre in Abu Dhabi.

A stand alone place – there’s not much else around it but, perhaps there doesn’t need to be, when the place itself is such a destination.

More info here on their official site : The Hepworth Wakefield

National Art Pass members get 50% off entry fee (which is nice!)