01-07-2011
Two iconic sculptures from the world-famous Yorkshire Sculpture Park are sure to prove a huge draw for visitors to the Great Yorkshire Show, which opens in Harrogate next week (Tuesday 12 July 2011).
In a ground-breaking move, England’s premier agricultural event will showcase the two giant works of art in what is believe to be the first time internationally-acclaimed sculptures have been displayed at an agricultural show. The two 3.6m high works of art, which have a combined weight of 14 tonnes, will have pride of place on the President’s Lawn at the event.
The show’s guests of honour this year are HRH The Prince of Wales and HRH The Duchess of Cornwall who will be amongst the 130,000 or so visitors who will have the opportunity to see the works of art.
Bill Cowling, Honorary Show Director said: “We are absolutely delighted to showcase such impressive pieces of art and the setting is just perfect for them. Our two organizations are flagships of excellence, not just in Yorkshire but internationally and this trailblazing initiative celebrates that. We believe it is the first time that sculptures of this stature have been displayed at an agricultural show and I am sure they will cause great interest.”
Crawling and Héros de Lumière will arrive at the showground on board a 16-metre long trailer and they be carefully lowered into their temporary home by a giant crane. Their journey from Wakefield to Harrogate has kindly been supported by Welcome to Yorkshire.
Peter Murray CBE, Executive Director of Yorkshire Sculpture Park said: “Yorkshire Sculpture Park is delighted to bring sculpture by two internationally-acclaimed artists to the Great Yorkshire Show.
“As a pioneering organisation that aims to challenge, inspire, inform and delight, welcoming over 300,000 visitors each year, YSP strives to deliver great art for everyone.”
“We hope that visitors to the Great Yorkshire Show will enjoy Sophie Ryder’s ‘Crawling’ and Igor Mitoraj’s ‘Heros de Lumiere’ and that they are inspired to visit YSP to explore works by some of the world’s finest artists, sited in 500 acres of historic landscape, and enjoy exhibitions throughout five stunning galleries.”
Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “The eyes of the world have been on Yorkshire this year because the county is fast becoming the UK’s centre for sculpture. The Great Yorkshire Show is a major date in Yorkshire’s calendar and this year’s visitors are in for a real treat as they can see first hand why our sculpture offering is attracting so much attention.”
British sculptor Sophie Ryder’s bronze ‘Crawling’, a hybrid female/mother figure, with the head of a hare and a human body, has been displayed at the Park, for the past three years.
Ryder created the piece in 1999 using a steel armature, around which she moulded and bent different thicknesses of wire. The finished bronze - 6.2m long and weighing five tons - was then dipped in boiling zinc to galvanize it.
Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj’s ‘Héros de Lumière or ‘Hero of Light’ was created in 1986 and can be seen at the show after a period out of the limelight. The nine ton piece of artwork has been modelled in carrara marble by Mitoraj, following the style favoured by Renaissance sculptors such as Michaelangelo.