The Yorkshire Sculpture Park

The day after my niece's wedding the sun was shining again. I had read about the Mister Finch: The Wish Post exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and was determined to get there. I mean, how amazing was it that the largest solo exhibition of an artist I avidly follow on Facebook happened to be on when I was in the UK?
I last visited the park back in 1991 to see a Sophie Ryder exhibition. Her work left a great impression on me but I couldn't remember the park so well. It turned out to be far nicer than I had remembered!
The Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) is an open-air gallery in West Bretton near Wakefield in West Yorkshire, showing work by British and international artists including Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. The park's collection of works by Moore is one of the largest open-air displays of his bronzes in Europe. The sculpture park occupies the parkland of Bretton Hall, a country house which housed Bretton Hall College until 2001 and was a campus of the University of Leeds until 2007. The park opened in 1977 and was the UK's first sculpture park to host temporary open air exhibitions rather than permanent displays. Today it hosts exhibitions both indoors and outdoors as well as permanent sculptures in the grounds.

Armed with our park leaflet highlighting just some of the 80 sculptures to see in the open air, we simply started wandering. Our first stop was at the historic Chapel courtyard to see Ai Weiwei’s 'Iron Tree', top. I had seen some of his trees at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem last year and was keen to see them in a very different setting. Inspired by the wood sold by street vendors in Jingdezhen, southern China, Iron Tree comprise of 97 tree elements cast in iron and interlocked using a classic Chinese method of joining. 

Stepping inside the 18th-century Chapel a wonderful surprise awaited us. Acclaimed Japanese installation and performance artist Chiharu Shiota has created an inspiring and beautiful site-specific installation 'Beyond Time' using 2,000 balls of white thread which drifts up from floor to ceiling, twisting around and drawing you in to the spirit of the place. Photocopied pages taken from the YSP’s archives are strewn within the white webbing, like free-floating foliage. I found it hard to drag myself away from the Chapel.

Apart from the sculptures, the park is a very pleasant place to stroll around. There are various pathways and tracks to follow, a lake which is split into two by a bridge and a dam, and some gorgeous woodland. We set off in the direction of the dam, spending some fun time watching geese slide down the dam's concrete walls into the lake below. The night before we had been dancing late into the night, so we had set off late for our visit. We soon realised that there wasn't time to see the whole park. Therefore the Upper Lake, which leads to a Greek Temple and Shell Grotto, awaits a further visit. For this visit we stayed in the country park around the Lower Lake, though I soon found that sticking to any kind of route was totally beyond me. A glimpse of something through the trees and I was off!

Jaume Plensa's 'Wilsis', top, belongs to a series of portrait heads depicting young girls from around the world, with their eyes closed in a dreamlike state of contemplation. At over seven metres high, the work is extraordinary.

I was anxious to see Antony Gormley's 'One and Other' since I had seen his public sculpture, the monumental Angel of the North, up-close near the A1 in Gateshead. Gormley's work is usually based on casts of his own body, in an investigation into the body "as a place of memory and transformation". 'One and Other', perched high upon the woody remains of a dead tree, reflects Gormley's individual concerns with isolation and claustrophobia, but the figure has lost any distinct features and, as such, represents the universal.

Julian Opie's 'People 15', below, documents people walking around in the urban environment within the distinctly rural YSP landscape. Opie emerged as an influential artist in the 1980s after studying at Goldsmiths College in London.

I was delighted to find two of Sophie Ryder's wire works, 'Sitting' and 'Crawling', near the Camellia House greenhouse, which dates back to c.1817, above, top. Huge in scale, her hares are a dominant, watchful presence in the landscape.

Nearby was Barbara Hepworth's 'The Family of Man', a beautiful representation of figures in the landscape and one of the last major works Hepworth completed before her death. Hepworth (1903–75) was born and raised in Wakefield and became one of the 20th-century's most eminent international sculptors, shaped by her early years in Yorkshire. In Autumn 2016 expert conservators restored 'The Family of Man', which has been on public display at YSP since 1980.

Then it was time to step indoors to see 'The Wish Post' in the YSP Centre. Textile artist Mister Finch has brought more than 75 intricately hand sewn and constructed soft sculptures and props to the YSP. The exhibition centres around the story of The Wish Post, a magical kingdom of woodland animals whose job it is to collect and sort other creatures' wishes, which are breathed into envelopes and posted in toadstool postboxes. For one night each year, The Wish Post creatures have the chance for their own dreams to be whisked away by the wind and come true. Badgers in blue jackets, hedgehogs playing brass bells, thimble-tailed rats, elegant swans, long-eared rabbits, and dapperly-dressed moles - all life-sized - gather together to prepare the wishes for the wind, ahead of The Wish Post festival.

The exhibition was a delight to see! It showcases Mister Finch's masterful use of up-cycled and new materials, from discarded wire, steel and wood, to vintage tapestries, cross stitch samplers, tablecloths, antique silverware and rescued cloth. The self-taught artist has drawn inspiration from British folklore, the historic Bretton Estate and Yorkshire wildlife to create his textile wonders.

All the works in the exhibition were available to buy, though I believe they all sold on the opening night of the exhibition. Unfortunately they were well beyond my reach anyway, though I did treat myself to Mister Finch's self-published book, which documents his journey creating 'The Wish Post' and includes behind-the-scenes photography. I really would have loved a hand-sewn and embellished Toadstool. And, no, I hadn't overdosed on contemporary art from my visit to the YSP!

* This post has been shared on The Good. The Random. The Fun., Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday), Tuesday's Treasures, Our World Tuesday, Pictorial Tuesday and The Keeping It Real Link Up.