Barbara Hepworth exhibition opens at Towner Eastbourne

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.

Spokeswoman Nicola Jeffs said: “This exhibition, which has gained rave reviews across the country after visits to Wakefield, Edinburgh and St Ives, will display some of Hepworth’s most celebrated sculptures including the modern abstract carving that launched her career in the 1920s and 1930s, her iconic strung sculptures of the 1940s and 1950s and large-scale bronze and carved sculptures from later in her career. Key loans from national public collections will be shown alongside works from private collections that have not been on public display since the 1970s and rarely seen drawings, paintings and fabric designs. The exhibition will be themed around Hepworth's broader cultural interests in music, dance, theatre, politics and literature, exploring these and encouraging new interpretations and presentations of her work. Originally staged at The Hepworth Wakefield, Tate collaborated with the gallery to reimagine the exhibition for the Cornwall context in which Hepworth lived and worked. Now, as this important show comes to Sussex it’s an opportunity to experience Hepworth’s work in a landscape where the land and the sea meet, nestled in the South Downs, important for an artist who juxtaposed land and sea; solid and fluid.

“The exhibition also tells the viewers about Hepworth’s time in St Ives and emphasises how the area’s rugged landscape and close-knit artistic community became important sources of inspiration. These local connections are evident in the titles of many key works, such as Curved Form (Trevalgan) 1956 and Sea Form (Porthmeor) 1958, while her engagement with the wider world of international events is explored through works such as Disc with Strings (Moon) 1969, perhaps inspired by advances in space exploration, and Single Form, unveiled at the United Nations in 1964. Visitors to the exhibition follow Hepworth’s early artistic journey from her initial studies at Leeds School of Art in 1920-1 to her travels across Europe, and her subsequent life in London in the 1930s, where she started a family. The show explores how, during this time, she moved away from overtly figurative work towards abstraction, though her fascination with the human body would remain evident through much of her later practice. The exhibition then traces the development of Hepworth’s work during her early years in St Ives – an artistic community of artists – she quickly embraced after permanently relocating to the Cornish seaside town at the outbreak of the Second World War. Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life uncovers how the landscapes of West Cornwall captivated her and generated a period of extraordinary creativity, shown through works such as Oval Sculpture (No. 2)1943 (cast 1958) and Tides II 1946.”

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