New, free 'Sculpting Lives' podcast series exploring British women sculptor

The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Friday, March 29, 2024


New, free 'Sculpting Lives' podcast series exploring British women sculptor
Elisabeth Frink, Lying Down Horse, France 1969.



LONDON.- Dame Barbara Hepworth, Dame Elisabeth Frink, Kim Lim, Phyllida Barlow and Rana Begum - some of the most globally well-known British artists are women sculptors.

Conversely, the profession and practice of sculpture was seen by many throughout the 20th century (and before) to be very much a man’s world. Often using heavy and hard materials, sculpture was not typically viewed as suitable for women artists.

Now, a brand new, free to download (via iTunes) podcast series explores the lives and careers of these six women who worked (and are still working) against these preconceptions, forging successful careers and contributing in ground-breaking ways to the histories of sculpture and art.

Each 45-minute episode takes a woman sculptor as its subject, exploring the art works, networks, connections and relationships of these artists. Every programme is recorded in places that are significant for these women – their studios, as well as galleries and public places where their work is on display – and includes new interviews with curators, friends, family and the artists themselves, creating intimate soundscapes of their private and public worlds

Sculpting Lives is written and presented by Jo Baring (Director of the Ingram Collection of Modern British & Contemporary Art) and Sarah Turner (Deputy Director for Research at the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art in London). The pair bring their shared expertise and infectious enthusiasm for sculpture to this series, with each episode taking the form of an informal and lively conversation between Jo, Sarah and their interviewees.

EPISODE 1 - Dame Barbara Hepworth (1903-1975)
“Hepworth... didn’t see herself as a feminist at all and didn’t see herself as ‘a pioneering woman’, she just felt she was a pioneering sculptor.” Stephen Feeke, curator and writer.

Barbara Hepworth was born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire in 1903. By the time of her 1975 death, she had become one of the most important artists of the century, creating a poignant and innovative sculptural language. She is extremely unusual for a woman artist in that she has two museums named after her.

Although a lot has been writing about Hepworth, there is still a great deal to find out – there is a mystique and there are assumptions made about her. In this episode, we challenge those ideas, go to the places she lived and worked, and explore why she remains such a powerful influence on artists today.

“A normal person from Wakefield, a remarkable artist but also a remarkable woman.” Eleanor Clayton, Curator, The Hepworth Wakefield.

EPISODE 2 - Dame Elisabeth Frink, R.A. (1930-1993)
“She respected herself. She took herself seriously and she took the work seriously, due to the nature of the work. She knew what it was she wanted to explore.” Annette Ratuszniak, Curator, Frink Estate.

In 1973 Elisabeth Frink became the first female sculptor to be elected as a Royal Academician.

Frink was born into an army family, and her childhood was overshadowed by the Second World War. This experience, and other upheavals of the 20th century, led her to ask fundamental questions about the nature of humanity in her work. In an artworld increasingly dominated by abstraction, Frink remained resolute in her commitment to working both figuratively and in bronze. When Frink died in 1993, she had created over 400 sculptures, many of which are well-known public commissions.

We explore hidden narratives in Frink’s career, and consider how artists can be sidelined by the ‘art world’ yet remain popular with the public. We also consider the impact an artist’s family has on their posthumous reputation and how this is managed.

“A lot of her work resonates in a really contemporary way.” Cathie Pilkington, RA, First Female Professor of Sculpture at the Royal Academy.

EPISODE 3 - Kim Lim (1936-1997)
“Being female and foreign was never a problem as a student, later I realised that there was a difference, but what was important in the end, was what I did and not where I came from. Race and gender were givens I worked from, perhaps the work does reflect this which is fine, but I did not want to make them an issue.” Kim Lim

Kim Lim was born in Singapore and moved to Britain in the 1950’s to enroll at art school. Despite a successful career (there are over 80 of her works in UK public collections) she has been left out of histories of 20th century British Art. This episode explores the reasons for that and ask how these exclusions happen?

We examine the presence of ethnic minority artists in public collections in the UK – looking at histories of British Art and how to expand the narratives. Kim Lim was married to a successful artist – William Turnbull – and has traditionally been viewed in that context. We also consider the posthumous work that her family have done to secure her legacy and reputation.

“She never wanted to be perceived as being ‘other’ just because she was a woman and foreign.” Bianca Chu, Deputy Director, Sotheby’s S2.

EPISODE 4 - Phyllida Barlow, R.A. (b. 1944)
“The first time I met him he said ‘Because you’re a woman, I’m not that interested because by the time you’re 30 you’ll be having babies and making jam.’” Phyllida Barlow on meeting her art school tutor Reg Butler

Barlow is one of the best- known sculptors working in the UK at the moment and has had major international shows. Unrecognised by the wider world for much of her career, she was an influential teacher to a younger generation of artists during her 40 years at the Slade School of Art before she found acclaim in her 60s. Her work – large scale sculptural installations made from inexpensive low-grade materials – is abstract and seemingly unstable, playing with mass and volume, invading and blocking the space around it.

In a candid interview in her studio we asked her about how she came to sculpture, how she defines what sculpture is, how she disrupts those ideas, her recent successes and how they have impacted her.

“It’s interesting to have those challenges thrown down, but it’s also, you know, you’ve got to muster this tremendous single-mindedness … These things act as the most extraordinary trigger for your future.” Phyllida Barlow.

EPISODE 5 - Rana Begum, R.A. (b. 1977)
“I don’t want to use a language that really segregates people. I don’t want to use a language that makes them think about gender – if they are looking at a female artist or a male artist.” Rana Begum.

Rana was born in Bangladesh and came to Britain as a child. She is an artist who works across sculptural materials and crosses disciplines. She is working through what sculpture can be in the world, moving across disciplines like paintings, architecture, design and furniture. She also uses colour and light as materials and doesn’t define herself as a ‘sculptor’ – she calls herself ‘a visual artista.’

We interviewed her in her studio, asking about definitions of sculpture, and things which aren’t usually spoken about – how to balance family life and her artistic career, and the problems she has encountered. We asked her about biography, race, identity and Britishness and how these issues feed into her work.

“Living in East London I feel like I’m almost living in a bubble. (You leave and) you are made to remember your skin colour, you’re made to remember your gender, you’re made to remember your religion and all of those things you take for granted when you live in a place like this.” Rana Begum.

Sculpting Lives is free to download on iTunes.

Sculpting Lives Contributors
• Eleanor Clayton, Curator, The Hepworth Wakefield • Sara Matson, Curator, Tate St Ives • Stephen Feeke, Curator and Writer • Clare Lilley, Director of Programme, Yorkshire Sculpture Park • Simon Martin, Director, Pallant House Gallery • Annette Ratuszniak, Curator, The Elisabeth Frink Estate • Sam Johnston, Director, Dorset History Centre • Alex Turnbull, Son of Kim Lim • Hammad Nasar, Senior Research Fellow, Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, and curator of the British Art Show 9 • Bianca Chu, Deputy Director, Sotheby’s S2 • Phyllida Barlow, R.A. • Edith Devaney, Curator, The Royal Academy • Nathaniel Hepburn, Director and Chief Executive, Charleston Trust • Chloe Hughes, Foundry Manager • Rana Begum, R.A. • Anne Barlow, Director, Tate St Ives










Today's News

March 21, 2020

America's big museums on the hot seat

The British Museum sees surge in online visitors as museums across the world close their doors

Romare Bearden's rarely seen abstract side

Postponed galas imperil more than boldface names

Boca Raton Museum of Art launches new online community initiatives

Sotheby's shifts select March & April sales to online auctions

France closes esplanades, lawns, river banks in virus lockdown

Doriot Anthony Dwyer, flutist and orchestral pathbreaker, dies at 98

Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers to host a spring comic book & toy auction

Lyle Waggoner, a tv star as actor and announcer, dies at 84

Early coastal scene by landmark Australian painter goes five times over estimate at Ewbank's

Russian theatre's solution to virus: an audience of one

New, free 'Sculpting Lives' podcast series exploring British women sculptor

Netflix commits $100 mn to help actors, crews thrown out of work

Flamenco dancers who 'move between genders'

Dancing with myself: Ballet stars stay on their toes in virus lockdown

Jaynelle Hazard appointed Executive Director & Curator of the Greater Reston Arts Center

For this pianist, every album is an essay

An opera singer goes from tenor to soprano, and her career takes off

Digital programme: 'Dispatches' from Hauser & Wirth, launches this weekend

Congolese music star Mabele dies of coronavirus

Molly Brodak, poet and memoirist of her father's crimes, dies at 39

Almine Rech presents an exhibition of works by Alexandre Lenoir

Cirque du Soleil lays off most of its workforce over pandemic

How to remove Watermarks from Images

Tips for Creating the Perfect Sketch

Career Tips for Photographers: How to Create the Perfect Portfolio

Chris Ware at MCA Chicago

Bonhams travels with style as vintage luxury luggage goes under the hammer

Jacket worn by Prince in "Purple Rain" to be sold by auction house Profiles in History




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful