YSP in mono

We've had a couple of talks recently at the camera club by photographers specialising in mono work. They have inspired many of us, me included, to scroll back through our archives and look for images that will convert effectively to monochrome. I found these two, taken at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, that I think look quite good in mono, especially when I gave them a slight sepia tinge.

The top one is part of a sculpture by Amar Kanwar, made of organ pipes salvaged from the 19th century chapel on the YSP site. Its title is 'Six Mourners and The One Alone'.

Perched on top of a rotting tree stump, the iron figure above is recognisably an Antony Gormley creation, entitled 'One & Other'. (In fact, the tree stump is so rotten that I gather the figure has now been removed, awaiting a new site.) Gormley's other works include 'The Angel of the North' and 'Another Place', the figures on Crosby Beach (HERE). He often uses casts of his own body. This particular sculpture speaks of isolation. The figure, with no distinct features, becomes the universal.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Here are a few more photos from my early October visit to Yorkshire Sculpture Park. As well as the indoor galleries, there is a huge estate to explore, its rolling grasslands kept cropped by sheep, who are not in the least interested in the numerous Henry Moore sculptures on permanent display. There are many works by other noted artists like Barbara Hepworth, Ai Weiwei, Andy Goldsworthy, Anthony Gormley, David Nash, Jaume Plensa and James Turrell - in fact, too many to list. It's quite a feast and a very pleasurable journey, meandering around and seeing what you come across.  The estate stretches as far as the eye can see, right up to the Longside Gallery which you can perhaps just make out on the hill in the far background of the photo above. There's far too much to see in a day, added to which it is easy to get diverted by nature's beauty: the trees, lakes and wildlife around. I'm glad I live reasonably near and can keep going back.

There was an exhibition, 'Inside Outside' by the Irish artist Sean Scully, featuring 'Crate of Air' made out of Corten steel and an immense work called 'Wall Dale Cubed', three huge blocks of stones that reference Yorkshire's dry stone walls and other ancient structures in Mexico, Egypt and the Irish Aran Islands.

Guiseppe Penone at YSP

Another artist with an exhibition currently at YSP is the Italian, Guiseppe Penone: 'A Tree in the Wood'. He seeks to explore humanity's intimate relationship with the natural world and many of his works feature trees. The centrepiece of the exhibition in the Underground Gallery was 'Matrice', a huge fir tree sliced in two and carved along one of its growth rings. Impressive (and hard to photograph! See part of it in the photo at the very bottom of this blog post). I preferred the work shown on the right, which was also a tree split and carved along one of its growth rings, as though a tree was discovered within itself.                                                                                                                                In the grounds, there was a series of huge bronze casts of trees  including the cast of a lightning-struck tree, its brutally exposed interior lined with gold leaf.                                                                                                                                                    The work at the top of the page is 'Propagazione', a delicate ink drawing on paper, emanating from a single fingerprint and then directly painted across the whole wall. The whorls spiral out, recalling the growth rings of a tree and speaking of our individual identity within the universe. 

Chiharu Shiota at YSP

I seem to be having quite a few 'cultural' visits lately. These photos are from a day out at YSP (Yorkshire Sculpture Park) near Wakefield. The huge park has many sculptures (both permanent acquisitions and touring works) displayed outside and also in several indoor gallery spaces.

This work by the Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota filled the historic 18th century estate chapel, and I loved it. Called 'Beyond Time', it was created specifically for this venue. The installation consists of miles of intricately woven and knotted white string, emanating from a ghostly black wire piano (or organ), and scattered with sheet music and copies of pages from the YSP archives. The structure rises and twists like a series of glorious cathedral arches, or perhaps ethereal trees, resonating with the spirit of the chapel, invoking the worship that once took place here and the people whose bodies lie in the graveyard outside. It is like looking at a silent sound. Extraordinary. (Read more HERE.)

The exhibition also included some drawings and a bronze sculpture, called 'Belonging' that I also liked very much. It depicts a woman's hand curved into a man's, sheltering a child's hand between. The artist says: “Because much of my art is temporary and only remains as a memory in people’s mind, I wanted to create something that was more everlasting. The new sculpture Belonging is also informed by my understanding of the boundaries created between us by race, nationality, religion or language, but my deep belief that we are all connected.”

YSP 7

Yorkshire Sculpture Park    Another major exhibition currently at YSP features works by the dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, shown in and around the 18th century chapel where the Wentworth family once worshipped. 'Iron Tree, 2013' (above), the most complex of a series he began in 2009, is inspired by the wood sold by street vendors in Jingdezhen, southern China. Constructed from pieces cast from different trees all joined together, it is awkward and lifeless but eloquent because of that. It speaks of the individual in society, a theme amplified by the display inside the chapel (which you aren't allowed to photograph) which consists of forty-five antique wooden chairs from the Qing dynasty, arranged in rows but each within its own solitary space. I found that oddly touching, the longer I gazed and thought. The artist is currently not allowed to travel out of China due to passport restrictions and surveillance.

YSP 6

Yorkshire Sculpture Park - Sculptural forms that from a distance looked like ghostly hay bales, on closer inspection turned out to be art works made from wire mesh. 'Summer Fields' is an installation by Helen Escobedo (1934 -2010), a Mexican artist. The more I looked at them floating ethereally in the landscape, the more I liked them.

YSP 5

Yorkshire Sculpture Park  The amazing range of sculpture on display is a large part of the joy at Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) but the setting is wonderful too. The landscaped grounds belong to Bretton Hall, at one time the home of the Wentworth family and later a teacher training college and part of the University of Leeds. The parkland also holds the Bretton Country Park, with acres of grassland, woods, streams and lakes to explore.

YSP 5

Yorkshire Sculpture Park  This is another easy one to guess.. one of the permanent collection of Henry Moore sculptures at YSP. I can think of no better place to show these huge bronzes than a rolling hillside among the trees and grazing sheep. Henry Moore was born in nearby Castleford and often cited the influence of the West Yorkshire landscape on his development as a young artist. This piece is called 'Two Large Forms'. (Moore was particularly imaginative in his titles!)  Not, I think, entirely influenced by the landscape...

YSP 4

Yorkshire Sculpture Park  Yesterday's artist was easy to guess ...but what about today's? This piece is called 'Roman Standard'. It features a delicate blackbird perched on a 4 metre high pole and is intended as a contrast to the eagle-topped standards traditionally carried into battle by Roman army to symbolise power.  Would you have guessed Tracey Emin? I didn't.

YSP 3

Yorkshire Sculpture Park  No prizes for guessing the creator of this piece at YSP. It's 'One and Other' by Anthony Gormley. He is most famous for 'The Angel of the North' which sits beside the motorway near Gateshead, but he has also created lots of these bronze figures. There is a well-known installation of figures on the beach at Crosby, Merseyside (which I keep meaning to go and see and never have) and he also exhibited some on buildings in London. (Some people phoned the police, thinking they were real people about to jump!)

YSP 2

Yorkshire Sculpture Park  These majestic sculptures are the work of Ursula Von Rydingsvard, an American artist who has been producing work for the open air since the late 1970s. This is her first large exhibition in Europe and consists of these huge outdoor pieces, plus some equally impressive pieces in the Gallery and a number of smaller works, sketches and memorabilia. Most of her work is made from cedar wood beams 4" square that are cut, meticulously assembled, shaped and coloured. The work - 'Bronze Bowl with Lace' - with the filigree top (photo lower left and also yesterday) is a 6m high bronze cast from a cedar wood piece, made especially for this exhibition. I really liked them all, they looked as if they were growing.

Museum of the Year 2014

Guess where I've been today? Yes, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP), at West Bretton near Wakefield. It has recently been named 'Museum of the Year' by the Art Fund. I feel so lucky to live within easy travelling distance of this wonderful place. It is a magnificent landscape to enjoy and discovering all the amazing pieces of sculpture dotted around the place makes for a great day out.

There are several photos to come from this latest trip, but please also click the YSP label below to see a previous visit.

Walking the line

(Photo taken with my Panasonic DMC-FZ18)
 
This is an installation called (bemusingly) '29 Palms' (2007) by Jaume Plensa, in one of the galleries at Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP).  It is a 50 metre long curtain of hanging letters, which are apparently poems.  (At first I though it was 29 Psalms - but no).  Whatever its merits as art, it made an interesting study in light, shadow and perspective.   Please applaud my patience in standing here for what felt like hours, camera poised, waiting for the people to be in the right places.  All along the right-hand wall are smaller rooms that had pieces on display, so folk kept coming in and out of the doorways at random intervals and unexpectedly.  I found out long ago that patience is not my prime virtue and I am rather pleased I managed this!

Boy sitting

 (Photo taken with my Panasonic DMC-FZ18)

I spent ages waiting, trying to isolate one of these seven figures - part of a Jaume Plensa installation 'Heart of Trees' (2007) at YSP - from the many visitors milling around.  Just as I was about to press the shutter, a couple of young boys ran into shot.  Isn't it frustrating when that happens?  But then when one of them suddenly sat down beside the figure, I had the picture I had been waiting for all along without knowing it!

I have posted more photos of the Jaume Plensa installations on my other blog.

Jaume Plensa at YSP

My main reason for visiting the Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) was to see the Jaume Plensa exhibition.  I first saw this artist's work on another blog (JM's Oeiras Daily Photo as far as I remember) - though I've looked again there to compare and I can't find it now!  Plensa is a Spanish artist who works on a large scale using steel, glass and neon lights.  My art guide is extremely sniffy about him ... "an example of the new academic modern orthodoxy heavily promoted by the official art establishment... [he is] only the designer, the physical creation is done anonymously, presumably in a factory..... objects made to look significant, portentous and profound by being displayed in isolation or attached to big white walls in official spaces.... what do they amount to? Profundity or banality?"! 

Personally, I found the pieces quite attractive and interesting (but then I'm not an art snob!)  They are accessible, not simply for looking at but for touching and exploring; I watched lots of people climbing in and out of the huge figures and the children seemed fascinated by them.  Comments on the YSP website are overwhelmingly positive too.  These photos show the massive figure called "House of Knowledge" (2008).  The one below puts it in its context in the YSP gardens and the people inside it give it scale. I like the way the willow tree echoes the shape.

(Photos taken with my Panasonic DMC-FZ18)

Pierced

"And a sword will pierce your own soul too."  Luke 2:35

For some reason that I can never quite fathom, this is my favourite of all the art works at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.  It is Héros de Lumière, 1986 by the Polish artist Igor Mitoraj.  Carved from a block of white carrara marble, as favoured by Renaissance sculptors like Michelangelo, it has the feel of a classical piece and yet nods to Surrealism (it has a face on its shoulder, the lips just visible here).  It always makes me think of the passage in the Bible where Simeon prophesies over the infant Jesus and warns Mary, his mother, of the heartbreak to come.  Michelangelo believed he was carving to release figures trapped in the stone - and this piece has that kind of sense for me.

(Photo taken with my Panasonic DMC-FZ18)

Yorkshire Sculpture Park

(Taken with my Panasonic DMC-FZ18)

I had a magical day out recently at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park near Wakefield, about a 3/4 hour drive from here.  It's vast area (500 acres) of parkland, meadow, gardens and lake, surrounding the 18th century Bretton Hall, which was once the home of Sir William Wentworth.  The house became a teacher training college for many years but that has now closed.  The Sculpture Park was started some 33 years ago and has grown and developed to become 'a centre of international, national and regional importance for the production, exhibition and appreciation of modern and contemporary sculptures'.  The 18th century deerpark, now full of contented sheep and geese, is home to a range of sculptures, some by Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth (both born locally).  My photo shows a Henry Moore bronze "Upright Motive No 9" (1979).  There are visiting exhibitions and indoor gallery spaces too and they have recently restored some of the gardens and parkland, so that even more of the estate is open to the public.

It's a fantastic, unusual, exciting place.  You can take a long, exhilarating walk in the fresh air whilst at the same time admiring some of the most important sculptures of the last century.  Kids love it and, even if you can't walk so far, there are lovely gardens and galleries close to the entrance. When you're done, there's a couple of good tea shops and a gift shop.

Mesostic poems

Three from a selection of mesostic poems, part of an artwork called 'Propogator' (2003) by the artist Alec Finlay, in the permanent exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

      SpinaChy                                                      Thread                                Milky
           disH                                          And                                   spInes
             wIth                                                buttoNs                                    yelLowy
          lunCh                                                         Sewn                             pricKs
          bacK                                     neatlY
          When                                                                                                  The
             thE                                                                            Hillside
earthmothEr                                                                                                        Is
          ruleD                                                                                                        Scattered
                                                                                                                         wiTh
                                                                                                                       purpLe
                                                                                                                          defEnces

                                                                                                                        
I didn't know what a mesostic poem was until I saw these.  Wikipedia tells me they are where a vertical phrase intersects lines of horizontal text.  Similar to an acrostic but the vertical phrase intersects through the middle not at the beginning of the line.  (Hard to line them up in Blogger though!)   I thought Betsy might like these...she's good at acrostic poems.  They look deceptively simple... but see how the words capture the essence of each plant.

I shall bring you more photos from my lovely day out at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park soon.