Anish Kapoor
Flashback
16 June–4 November 2012
Arts Council Collection
Longside Gallery
Yorkshire Sculpture Park
West Bretton
Wakefield WF4 4LG, UK
Hours: daily, 11–4pm
www.artscouncilcollection.org.uk
The exhibition by the Turner Prize-winning artist is organised by the Arts Council Collection and is part of their Flashback series which presents early pieces from the Collection alongside recent work to give an insight into the evolution of key figures in British art. This is the first survey of Kapoor’s work to be held in the UK, outside of London.
On display will be Kapoor’s sensual and intriguing sculptures which he created using a range of materials including pigment, stone, and polished stainless steel.
The show has been selected by the artist and includes works such as White Sand, Red Millet, Many Flowers (1982) which demonstrates Kapoor’s early interest in applying raw pigment to a range of organic forms.
Alongside this, the optically illusionary Untitled (1995) is a highly polished stainless steel void embedded into the wall that draws the viewer into a seemingly bottomless reflection and is representative of the mirrored forms that have made Kapoor a household name.
Caroline Douglas, Head of the Arts Council Collection, said: “After one of the most successful tours of any Arts Council Collection exhibition, we are very proud to bring Anish Kapoor’s Flashback show to our Longside Gallery at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. The show here assembles major pieces from throughout his career drawn from public collections in the UK and is a testament to the richness and vibrancy of museum collections in this country.”
Clare Lilley, Director of Programme at YSP, said: “This is a really important project and it’s fantastic that one of the world’s greatest living artists can now be seen in Yorkshire. Kapoor’s work with the Olympics times perfectly with this exhibition.”
Entry to the exhibition is free though parking charges do apply. Longside Gallery is a 2km walk from the YSP Centre or a free shuttle bus is available. Longside Gallery is open daily from 11–4.
The Arts Council Collection
The Arts Council Collection is one of Britain’s foremost national collections of post-war British Art. As a collection ‘without walls,’ it has no permanent gallery; it can be seen on long term loan to museums, galleries, schools, hospitals, colleges, and charitable associations and in touring exhibitions and displays at home and abroad. It is also, importantly, the most widely circulated and easily accessible collection of its kind, with nearly 8000 works available for loan. It is run by Southbank Centre on behalf of Arts Council England.
Established in 1946 to promote and enrich knowledge of contemporary art, the Collection continues to acquire works by artists, many at an early stage of their career, living and working in Britain and to foster the widest possible access to modern and contemporary across the UK. It includes work by Francis Bacon, Tracey Emin, Lucian Freud, Antony Gormley, Barbara Hepworth, David Hockney, Anish Kapoor, Henry Moore, Bridget Riley, and Wolfgang Tillmans. Recent exhibitions of works from the Collection, created in collaboration with Hayward Touring, include Unpopular Culture: Grayson Perry curates from the Arts Council Collection and Now Showing I & II. In 2009 the Arts Council Collection launched the Flashback series which showcases world-renowned British artists whose works were acquired early on by the Collection, including Bridget Riley (2010) and Anish Kapoor (2011). In December 2006 access to the Collection was further enhanced when www.artscouncilcollection.org.uk was launched.
