YSP - Gulbenkian Prize Finalist 2006
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"The new gallery is a superb addition to this much loved venue, recognised as one of the best sites in the world to see contemporary sculpture in the open air and in a sumptuous landscape. It has been elegantly incorporated into an 18th century garden; imaginative, witty and wholly modern, yet respectful of the atmosphere and ambience of its setting. Its potential to expand the range of media that the sculpture park can present was exemplified by the stunning, literally mind blowing, James Turrell light installations on show during the judges visit. The vision of making art accessible to all shines through the whole organisation."
Lord Winston, Chairman of Judges
25 May 2006
The purpose of the Gulbenkian Prize is to recognise and stimulate originality, imagination and excellence in museums and galleries in the UK, and increase public appreciation and enjoyment of all they have to offer.
It acknowledges a track record of imagination, innovation and excellence through work mainly undertaken during the previous calendar year.
The Underground Gallery was commissioned in April 2003 and completed in December 2004 at a cost of £2.75 million. With over 600 square metres of space and three large galleries, it is one of the largest purpose-built galleries to have been constructed in Britain for a number of years, and was designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley architects to fit sensitively with the historic landscape of the Sculpture Park. The Underground Gallery has enabled YSP to build on its worldwide reputation and extend the scope and range of media it can show. Examples of this include the William Turnbull retrospective (May - Oct 2005) and the current James Turrell light installations (Nov 2005-Jan 2007).
Executive Director, Peter Murray comments, 'It is a great honour to be considered for this year's Gulbenkian Prize. For the last 29 years, we have used the landscape to site a range of fascinating exhibitions creating a leading sculpture park and one of the largest, most important centres for contemporary art worldwide. We work very hard to promote wider public appreciation and enjoyment of art and our new underground gallery has certainly captured the imagination, winning the support and enthusiasm of visitors and artists.'
We are very grateful to all our visitors who supported YSP's Gulbenkian nomination, which can be downloaded below.