Why it's a great time for Eastbourne's Barbara Hepworth exhibition

Running until September 3, it offers a landmark retrospective on the iconic British artist (1903-1975). Encompassing sculptures, as well as rarely seen drawings, paintings and archival materials, Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life celebrates one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. The exhibition takes place as part of Towner 100, a series of exhibitions and events marking Towner’s 100th year.

Joe Hill, director and CEO of Towner Eastbourne, said: “The centenary has been going really well. We have had an amazing start to the year with the two collection shows we've done, with people responding really well to seeing bits of the collection that they probably haven't seen before or not seen for a while. We've had some really, really strong figures for visitors. We've definitely been in the first part of the year getting back to pre-pandemic numbers, if not slightly better. I would say that we are about a third up if not more than this time last year.

“I think there is a lot of attention generally on the centenary but also because of the Turner Prize that we've got coming. I think things have just just generally sparked a lot of interest, and there has been a lot of travel press on Eastbourne. We had that fantastic Time Out Eastbourne as the number one place to visit in 2023 and we've seen a number of other pieces describing it as a cultural hotspot. I think generally Eastbourne is doing well on the back of the Turner Prize and the gallery’s centenary and so we're seeing more people in the town and therefore visitor numbers are going up which is great.

“We have now had the collections exhibitions celebrating the centenary and now we are entering a period of the big celebration exhibitions and first we have got the Barbara Hepworth.”

It has been seen at a number of locations before: “But it has been developed very much as a collaborative exhibition. It has changed at each venue and we have added to it and we have shaped it in our own way as well. We're the only venue anywhere near London and we're the only venue in the south-east to have it and in the research we've done it seems that this is the first major exhibition on Barbara Hepworth in the south-east. We've been talking to the Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield for a while now (Hepworth was from Wakefield and the gallery has taken her name). They hold a lot of her in their collection but unfortunately they had the exhibition during the pandemic and for them it was quite hard. I think we're very lucky to have it at this time in Eastbourne when people are getting more confident about going out and things are looking good.

“Hepworth is an early to mid 20th century British artist and she was a female artist that managed to get the same fame and success as male artists which was no small in achievement at that time. But I think her sculptures have actually also captivated people. She was very interested in more abstract sculptural forms alongside Henry Moore but it's really interesting also to see her landscapes, the natural landscapes. We are very interested in landscapes here and in the environment, and the exhibition is just a really good fit for us.

“The exhibition is a really good meaty comprehensive look at Barbara Hepworth across her work.”