Exhibition highlights both the fragility and strength of sculpture

SCULPTURES made from paper and plastic that reveal the wide variety of materials that artists use to express sculptural ideas have gone on display at the Hepworth Wakefield.

The pieces have been plucked from Wakefield’s art collection, which is cared for by the gallery, and was founded in 1923 with the aim to nurture a public understanding of contemporary art.

A “progressive” collecting policy saw the work of city-born Barbara Hepworth and Castleford’s Henry Moore acquired early in their careers, as well as other leading artists of the day, such as Hepworth’s husband Ben Nicholson, who have become synonymous with shaping modern British art.

The new exhibition, which features all three artists, includes Moore’s bronze Two-Piece Reclining Figure No.4, from 1961, alongside less durable works such as Anthony Caro’s Paper Sculpture No.25, from 1981, and the fragile piece Double Vision 1992-93 Nylon by Caroline Broadhead.

Communications assistant Ryan Hogan looks at Double Vision 1992-93 Nylon by Caroline Broadhead. Picture by Simon Hulme

A spokesperson for the gallery said: “Throughout the twentieth century, artists explored new materials for sculpture and engaged in innovative ways with the processes of making. This new display includes sculptures made from paper, plaster, plastic, ceramics, fabric and found objects.”