Barbara Hepworth: Sculpture for a Modern World
@ Tate Britain 24 June – 25 October 2015

It is difficult to recall the name of any other female sculptor of Hepworth’s generation, a testament to her tenacity and her talent. Her name is regularly listed with the best of the twentieth-century British based Modernists: Epstein and Moore. For those familiar with Hepworth’s sculptures this exhibition will be a joyful reaquaintance with a dynamic artist and a vibrant period. For those to whom her name is vaguely familiar and her art almost unknown, this is a rare opportunity to see works of aesthetic beauty crafted with devotion to an exceptional career. The men in Hepworth’s life – husbands…

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FACE15 @ La Galleria Pall Mall 18 – 23 May 2015

Rarely are we able to gaze so intently upon the image of a stranger yet the spirited works, exhibited by the Society of Portrait Sculptors at FACE15, invite personal scrutiny. Set on eye level plinths in an airy gallery, these are not the austere and intimidating heavy castings of history. They are vivacious renderings of personality and colour capturing the exploration of individuality. Such a wide ranging and thought provoking selection of portrait sculptures defies outmoded expectations. Whilst aesthetically this is predominantly western art its subjects represent a diverse village of ethnicity. This Annual Open Exhibition aims to encourage the…

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Sculpture at the Chelsea Flower Show 2015

Leading the eye towards a pleasing focal point has long been a subtle skill practised by the greatest landscape designers. Punctuating an inspired horticultural composition, sculpture defines the ambience of the environment, conveying meaning and moment. Sculpture introduces an element of the unexpected and reveals itself with theatrical intent. When thoughtfully placed its balanced proportionality is staged to dramatic effect, evoking memory, emotion and visceral response. Though the Chelsea Flower Show may have been challenged by the lack of financial sponsorship available for garden designers since the economic tremor of 2008, potentially empty plots have been filled by those offering…

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Sculpture by the Lakes

Changing gear to reduce your speed is both a physical and metaphorical preparation as you turn beside the artists’ house, delighted that you did not miss the discreet laneside sign for Sculpture by the Lakes, the home of Simon and Monique Gudgeon. Scrunching down the gravel driveway towards the car park, tantalising glimpses of the sculptures distract. This feels new and different, open and inviting, in stunning contrast to the traditional ravine ‘C.A.R.’ – camellia, azalea, rhododendron – gardens along the English south coast. This landscape provides a modern alternative of elegant simplicity and meticulous sight lines; a master class…

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Chelsea Art Fair
16 – 19 April 2015

Beyond the imposingly formal doors of Chelsea Old Town Hall a quiet revolution of fight, fantasy and fixation awaits. Re-launched the Chelsea Art Fair delivers desirable art. Amidst the Spring assembly of exquisite pictorial florals and landscapes, molten metal has raged to offer powerful figurative forms. Bushra Fakhoury’s furious Stag Fight is an aggressively executed ritual. Two athletic males bearing stag antlers atop of their skulls – in McQueenesque adornment – clash violently, their primordial animal skinned bodies sprung in choreographed airborne attack. This dynamic anatomical composition is grounded by trailing tails then kinetically charged upwards as their heads butt…

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Leon Underwood:
Figure and Rhythm @ Pallant House Gallery
7 March – 14 June 2015

In preferring Leon, the more unusual, of his three given names – George Claude Leon – there is a hint of the independent pioneer within this twentieth-century artist.((George Claude Leon Underwood 1890-1975.)) As an art teacher, draughtsman, painter, printmaker and sculptor Underwood repeatedly reinvented his style to explore the use of materials and develop original visual themes. Manifest in chalk, terracotta, wood and bronze, Underwood’s interpretations of figurative sculptures exceed the repertoire of his less well-travelled peers. Distilling Russian, Icelandic, American, Mexican and African cultures, into a canon of diverse and unexpected works. Yet it is the simplicity of Underwood’s direct connection…

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