Carlos Garaicoa Studio
invites you to the opening of:
The Observatory
A project for Castleford
17 January – 27 March 2009
2 Sagar Street Gallery,
Castleford, England WF10 1AF
1.30pm exhibition preview
2pm speeches
2.30pm ‘art in the public realm’ panel discussion with Carlos Garaicoa, Robert Powell
(Executive Director, Beam), Alison Drake (Chair, Castleford Heritage Trust) and
chaired by Dr Helen Pheby (Deputy Curator, YSP).
4pm open house to Castleford residents
Carlos Garaicoa is a Cuban artist of international acclaim whose practice considers architecture as the biographer of place. In 2003 Garaicoa was invited by Arts Council England, Yorkshire, to create a work of art for Castleford, the birthplace of Henry Moore. Garaicoa felt a strong connection with the place: its rich history and heritage, a sense of melancholy about its recent fortunes and a hopeful energy for its future.
This exhibition presents three models by Garaicoa of a conceptual cultural centre for the town and contextualising work. The models are sculptures in their own right, but also suggest the possibility of a building that incorporates the town’s Roman ruins, a meeting space whose floor is a direct representation of the town as seen at night, and an observatory. The floor, entitled ‘How the earth wishes to resemble the sky’ functions as a didactic model leading to 200 carefully chosen books and a multimedia library; a gateway to learning about the town.
Castleford’s complex and multilayered history is revealed through the building and includes an evolving memory landscape of the place being built by its residents and visitors. The three works from ‘The Observatory’ series are complemented by recent sculpture, photographs and paper works from the artist’s collection.
Funded by Arts Council England, Yorkshire, and realised in collaboration with Yorkshire
Sculpture Park and York St John University, The Observatory is a poetic and beautiful, yet realistically possible, response to the artist’s time in the town and with its residents.
More info: garaicoaestudio@carlosgaraicoa.com
Please RSVP by 9 January 2009 at helen.pheby@ysp.co.uk, 01924 832511
The launch of the web site www.carlosgaraicoa.com -that will include detailed information of Carlos Garaicoa Studio The Observatory-Project for Castleford- will take place on January 16th, 2009.
