Yorkshire Sculpture Park

[rhythmaning]

Yorkshire Sculpture Park lies just off the M1 (jn 38); it is a glorious setting. Before I started wandering around, I had lunch there, too, and it was very good.

It was a lovely day. I chose to walk 1½ mile trail to the Longside Gallery, taking in artworks by some of my favourite artists, starting with James Turrell. He works with light: artificial light sometimes, but he bought a volcanic crater in Arizona to work with natural light, and the work at YSP also works with natural light. He adapted a deer shelter (called Deer Shelter) into a contemplative space: a large room with a large hole in the ceiling, through which one can sit back and watch the sky.

I loved this: it was powerful, relaxing – beautiful. I sat for a long time in silence, watching the clouds fly by.

I then moved on following the path which takes one past three different works by Andy Goldsworthy. First up was Shadow Stone Fold: a sheep fold containing stones. This left me cold. Last was Outclosure, a large circular, complete dry stone wall, with no entrance – and too high to look over. This, too, left me cold. But in between, I loved Hanging Trees: tree trunks enclosed within three deep, dry stone pits. It was beautiful.

I know the work of Turrell and Goldsworthy: it was the opportunity to see their sculpture that had drawn me to the park. But I was completely wowed by the creations of Sophie Ryder. The Longside Gallery had several pieces, and there were several more in the park itself.

In the gallery (strangely, there was no photography allowed inside, whilst there were no restrictions outside; I have no idea why the work outside was seen as photographable, but not the work in the gallery) were several monumental sculptures - kneeling Lady-Hare – and some stunning, intricately woven (but still monumental) wall pieces. The Lady-Hare pieces were strangely sexy. (I overheard one couple discussing the sculptures: “How do you know it’s a Lady-hare?” the woman said. I had to stop myself butting in and replying, “because it has breasts and a vagina!”) The wall pieces were woven from wire – steel, I think – which looked soft, but was clearly solid.

The Lady-Hares had been divided like Damien Hirst’s animals: one could walk between the sections. I thought these pieces were wonderful.

(Ryder’s website has a photograph of Ryder and the curator setting up the exhibition.)

Walking back, I made a detour to see the Hanging Trees again, and then cut back, where I saw Ryder’s hanging piece, a woven wire eye.

Continuing through the park, there was an Anthony Gormley (it appeared lost in the trees), and these sculptures.

I loved the tactile nature of Peter Randall-Page’s carved boulder.

There were also several more of Sophie Ryder’s sculptures laid out in the park.

I thought the sculpture park was a wonderful idea. It is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary, which means it was there when I spent a year living in York (over twenty years ago); I can’t think how I managed not to visit it before now. But it was worth the wait: it was a marvellous place.