Wakefield's long history of supporting artists.
Autumn is always a really busy time in the art calendar. Every October the so-called ‘art world’ descend upon London for Frieze Art Fair, where international art collectors, curators, commercial galleries, art enthusiasts and artists come together to network, buy, talk about and see art.
In the run up to this year’s fair was a national newspaper article in which eight contemporary artists were interviewed about the highlight of their careers so far. Two of the selected artists – Kira Freije and Louise Giovanelli – sited their major exhibition at The Hepworth Wakefield as that moment. Freije has been nominated for the high-profile Turner Prize this year for the exhibition she developed at The Hepworth, which recently opened at MIMA in Middlesbrough, introducing her emotionally-charged life-size figures to even more people. This had me reflecting on the important role Wakefield plays in the development of artists’ careers.
Freije is not the first artist to be championed by Wakefield to appear in the Turner Prize, in fact, Huddersfield-born artist Simeon Barclay has also been shortlisted this year for a performance commissioned by the Roberts Institute of Art and presented at The Hepworth. Veronica Ryan, who won in 2022, did a residency at The Art House in 2017 where she explored making techniques such as tie-dye and casting and was jointly commissioned with The Hepworth to create a new sculpture responding to works by Barbara Hepworth for Wakefield’s art collection. The work – Particles – has been shown in many different contexts since including her major retrospective at Whitechapel Gallery in London earlier this year.
Wakefield has a long history of supporting artists with their careers. Wakefield Art Gallery (established in 1934) was one of the most forward-thinking galleries of its time, collecting the work of Hepworth and Henry Moore early in their careers and giving avant-garde artists such as Alan Davie their first major exhibition in the 1950s. Seeking out the most exciting contemporary artists to present in Wakefield is something The Hepworth has become known for, and seeing artists’ careers flourish after working with us is one of the most rewarding parts of our role.
Wakefield has a unique ecology to do this role well – with the artist studios and Maker Spaces that are accessible to all at The Art House, the annual Visiting Artists Scheme at Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP), and the Yorkshire Sculpture Network we established in 2020 as part of Yorkshire Sculpture International in partnership with Leeds Art Gallery, Henry Moore Institute and YSP. The Network is specifically for artists based in Yorkshire and is designed to support the development of the participants’ work, help build regional and national connections and find opportunities for showing, sharing and engaging with contemporary sculpture. So far over 50 artists have been part of the network with many of them now having artworks in the collections at Leeds Art Gallery or The Hepworth and some, like Emii Alrai and Ro Robertson have already gained significant recognition for their work, securing commercial gallery representation and exhibitions and commissions all over the country. The most recent cohort have collaborated to create a book Hammer, Anvil, Stirrup and will be part of Manchester Art Fair in November.
Yorkshire, and Wakefield in particular, has an incredible sculptural legacy and creative energy, making it an important hub of sculptural excellence we can all be proud of.