Martin Parr

 

Another repost, a flashback to ten years ago when I visited The Hepworth in Wakefield :

'Everything in The Hepworth is worth seeing but I especially went along to view the current exhibition of the photographer Martin Parr's work. It is entitled 'The Rhubarb Triangle and other stories'. At its heart is a new commission of photographs of the famous 'rhubarb triangle', an area near Wakefield that specialises in growing the sweet and delicate Yorkshire forced rhubarb, grown in dark sheds and harvested by candlelight. Alongside were many of Martin's other photographs, among them his documentary series focussing on the seaside and the middle classes in the 80s. If you don't know his work, do look him up. He manages to be both funny and poignant, and some of his images are a scathing commentary on life in Thatcher's Britain towards the end of the twentieth century.

The wonderful collage shown above is called 'Common Sense' - highly saturated images of 'bits and bobs' of life in the 90s, wonderfully kitsch and quite bizarre but somehow a fascinating archive.

The four people were watching a video about Martin Parr, listening through headphones. Every now and again they'd all guffaw with laughing, which added to the slightly odd feeling, since I didn't know what they were laughing at.'

It's poignant now, as Martin Parr died in December 2025. He was the same age as me... That's quite sobering. 

In the playroom

One corner of the gallery where the Edmund de Waal/Axel Salto exhibition was displayed was set out as a playroom, with art supplies and various objects. I love how The Hepworth encourages creativity in this way, especially for children. Edmund de Waal clearly feels very passionate about this too. In his words: 'A section in the exhibition in Yorkshire is going to be an area in which children (if they manage to fight off the adults) get to play with printing stamps. The idea is to have a space where young people can just try things out, not for any kind of curriculum needs, but because being a human being is about discovering what happens, bodily, with you in the world – which is play. Play makes you alive to the world in a material way. Stripping play and craft from children’s lives is just a disgrace.'

I rather liked the felted 'pebbles' - squishy and tactile, and with lovely colours.  

I was also absolutely fascinated by these things... They looked a bit like mushrooms but they appeared to be wood - and I think they are natural rather than carved. I've no idea what they are. Google and Google lens is no help - it identifies them as 'portobello mushrooms' from the 'gills side' (well, yes, that's what they look like but they were definitely wood, not fungus) and trepanned skulls from the smooth side! Ha. I'd say they are some kind of burr/burl... Incredible things, anyway. 

Apologies for the soft focus. It was so dark that I was using a very wide aperture on my lens and thus had a rather too narrow depth of field. 

Axel Salto

Edmund de Waal and Axel Salto: Playing with Fire - at The Hepworth, Wakefield

And so to Axel Salto's work, as curated by Edmund de Waal. Salto (1889-1961) was Danish: 'a radical, polymathic figure who crossed boundaries from one discipline to another, producing an extraordinary body of ceramic work alongside paintings, wood-cuts, drawings, book illustration and textiles.' Most of his work was inspired by organic forms: buds, seeds, sprouts and occasionally creatures. 

You weren't allowed to touch the exhibits, of course, though the surfaces almost begged you to reach out and caress their knobbly forms. 

Apart from the three pronged 'tooth' things (above top left) that just served to remind me of the tooth extraction I've recently endured (!), I enjoyed all the shapes and colours. 

There was more than a hint of what we might now call 'Scandi modern' in his fabrics and designs: complex, lyrical and yet at the same time still spare and clean. (The above photo shows three lengths of fabric and a clay relief panel.) 

I really enjoyed seeing them all. The exhibition is on until 4 May 2026, so local peeps still have chance to visit it. 

Edmund de Waal #2

Edmund de Waal and Axel Salto: Playing with Fire - at The Hepworth, Wakefield

In contrast to the ethereal, light coloured ceramic vessels and sheets I showed yesterday, Edmund de Waal was displaying 'the largest vessels I have ever made. Into their damp surface I inscribed fragments of Rilke's poetry, marking and erasing and rewriting the words, a kind of elegie. They are made with a rough, red clay that turns as black as volcanic stone: that is the alchemy of the kiln'.  

These were monumental, solid, textural... magnificent pieces. I loved them. There was a timelessness about them, a kind of Biblical significance. 

There were a couple of niches too, that contained much smaller pieces but in a similar dark tone. I loved the light on light/dark on dark displays in the exhibition. Magical. 

 

Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal and Axel Salto: Playing with Fire - at The Hepworth, Wakefield

This was the exhibition I really wanted to see. I've only recently been alerted to Edmund de Waal, as I've been reading a delightful memoir by Nigel Slater: 'A Thousand Feasts', in which he talks about his own collection of Edmund de Waal ceramics. 

Edmund de Waal (b 1964, Nottingham) is a British contemporary artist, potter and writer known for his large scale installations of porcelain vessels. This exhibition at the Hepworth is his homage to and collaboration with the acclaimed Danish ceramicist, Axel Salto (1889–1961). It's (apparently) the first major exhibition of Salto's work and displays pieces by both artists that kind of dance around each other in a very beguiling fashion. 

These photos show some of Edmund de Waal's small ceramic vessels, beautifully delicate and imperfect pieces in the thinnest and finest material, lifted by subtle glazes, barely discernible embossed writing and some metallic, gilded embellishments. 

The more I looked, the more beautiful I found them. Their delicacy is belied by the fact that fired porcelain is actually quite a strong material. 

I was reminded of a couple of pots that I have at home that are precious to me. Oddly enough, my daughter and granddaughter made these once when we visited The Hepworth and had a play in their craft room. These are unglazed clay but there is an echo between the works, I think. 

Kira Freije: Unspeak the Chorus

Kira Freije: Unspeak the Chorus - at The Hepworth, Wakefield. 

This is the first major solo exhibition for Kira Freije (b 1985 London): twenty life size figures in small groupings 'suggesting narrative fragments or a frame of mind. Freije casts her own hands and feet in aluminium, building her metal sculptures from the feet upwards, welding together stainless steel strips like a pencil outline to create their forms. To these, she adds faces, or parts of faces, cast from people who are important in her life, as well as fabric and found materials such as brass and copper to complete the materially-rich whole'.

At first look, I wasn't sure I liked them but then I gradually warmed to them, finding them very expressive and evocative, full of emotion and exquisitely crafted.  

For the first few minutes, I was in the room with only a couple of other people, quietly drinking it all in. Then a large group of young students arrived, bringing a very different vibe! It became quite hard to move around and find clear angles to take photos. I'm all for introducing young people to good art, but to be honest I could have done without them right at that moment! It was well worth seeing though. 

 

Return to The Hepworth

It's almost a year since I last went to The Hepworth in Wakefield, so it felt like time to remedy that. There were a couple of exhibitions that I wanted to see, so I treated myself to a day out (with coffee and cake, of course). The train journeys there and back were not brilliant; apparently there's been a landslip somewhere, which was causing cancellations. Wakefield has two stations: Kirkgate, quite near The Hepworth, and Westgate on the far side of the city. In the end I had to walk to Westgate to get a train home but, hey ho, it meant lots of 'steps' that day so my health app won't be nagging me! 

The gallery, as I've shown before, is a brutalist concrete structure, designed by British architect David Chipperfield and opened in 2011. I love it -  its setting in a loop of the River Calder, the uncompromising building that always seems very appropriate for the sculptures it houses, and of course the world-class exhibitions themselves. 

Elizabeth Fritsch CBE

I was absolutely thrilled to discover a major exhibition at The Hepworth by one of Britain's most prominent ceramic artists, Elizabeth Fritsch (b 1940). I've seen just one of her pieces before (HERE) and really liked it.  

'Otherworldly Vessels' brings together over 100 pieces from her private collection, spanning the 1970s to 2013.  Originally trained as a musician, there are influences from jazz and classical music, architecture and surrealism evident in her artworks. 

She uses very matte glazes and colourful geometric patterns. Many of her works are visually teasing. (For that reason, I thought this post a suitable one for April Fool's Day!) You can see that they are solid, three dimensional (3D) objects and yet at the same time they look almost flattened and two dimensional (2D), due to the way she shapes and decorates them. Very fascinating. 

Exhibitions galore

At the moment there are several intriguing exhibitions running concurrently at The Hepworth. One is 'Forbidden Territories: 100 Years of Surreal Landscapes'. I'm not generally a huge fan of surrealism but a couple of the works stood out for me, mainly because of the wonderful colours. Nicolas Party's 'Landscape 2022', soft pastel on linen (above), sings with stunningly rich colour. 

I also loved the way Max Ernst's darkly ominous painting:  'Cage, Forest and Black Sun' (1927) was displayed against another bright pastel by Nicolas Party. A very interesting juxtaposition. In fact, the whole staging of this exhibition is incredible. 

There were some rather lovely ceramics: Yellow Undulating Angular Bowl (2022) by Ashraf Hanna looked for all the world like a soft felt creation, very clever:

Ursula Morley-Price's 'Winged Vessel' (1985) was just delightful. The artist was actually born in 1936 but the Hepworth's label said 'born 1986', which would make this the most amazing creation by any foetus in existence! 

Finally, a Manchester-based artist, Louise Giovanelli (b 1993), has an exhibition titled 'A Song Of Ascents', with some large-scale, shimmering works - curtains (as found in working men's clubs and theatres across the UK), locks of lustrous hair and the reflective surface of glassware. Not sure I really warmed to these but they were certainly eye-catching. I did enjoy the way they were reflected in the polished concrete floor. 

To The Hepworth (again)

I rarely turn down a chance to visit The Hepworth (gallery) in Wakefield, so when a friend suggested going to the Print Fair there, I happily accepted. You may think I'm doing a lot of exhibitions and galleries lately. It's partly because there are currently a lot to see (Bradford being the UK City of Culture 2025) and partly because it's been so cold and dull that I haven't felt much like venturing out on country walks. 

It was cold and dull in Wakefield too but, with little wind, the River Calder, which loops around the gallery, had some good reflections. I always enjoy the random messiness of the old boatyard you can see from the footbridge leading to the gallery.

The random messiness of the winter-slumbering garden behind The Hepworth was also rather pleasing. The grasses and ornamental seed heads complement the sculptural artworks displayed there. 

On the far side of the garden, Tileyard North, a converted mill, hosted the Print Fair, with some well-known local artists displaying work. You can often pick up a good bargain in artwork at such events. I was tempted by this one HERE, "The first warm day of the year". It's by Eva Juusola, a printmaker based in Sheffield. I guess it reminded me of the way my grandgirls sit, drawing, chatting, reading.  Very tempting but I resisted, then I couldn't stop thinking about it afterwards... so I've ordered it from the artist's website. A treat!

Tall Paul Kelly

I've recently become aware of the work of a Saltaire-based artist called Tall Paul Kelly. A graphic designer and illustrator, in the Covid lockdown he started to produce posters depicting locations in Yorkshire. They give a nod to old railway and travel posters. He uses bold colour and striking compositions, most of which have a playful twist. I love his work and was delighted to see that he is this year's recipient of the Hepworth Wakefield Print Fair Prize. His work is currently on display in The Hepworth café. 

I was rather tempted to invest in his print of Saltaire. (It was only lack of wall space that stopped me!) It's a clever fusion of Salts Mill and the alpaca whose wool underpinned Sir Titus Salt's success in textiles. (Apologies for the reflections in the glass, which were impossible to avoid.) 

I also loved the picture of Malham Cove, which brilliantly incorporates the peregrines that nest on the cliff face. 

After a moment or two of studying his depiction of Brimham Rocks, you notice the people and birds included in the spaces between - and a dog too. The man looking up, bottom right, reminds me of the statue of the poet John Betjeman in St Pancras Station, but that may simply be coincidence. I'm not aware of a link between Betjeman and Brimham Rocks.