Up North and Down South

A few weeks ago we visited the Yorkshire Sculpture Park,  We usually visit James Turrell's 'Deer Shelter' first, you can see the exterior of the building hiding between the trees in the photograph here.

And below, is the entrance. 

 Once inside you are drawn into the inner chamber

 It's a very quiet and peaceful space. 

Look up, in the ceiling is a window to the sky...

beautiful and mesmerising.

The artist Yinka Shonibare MBE has work on show throughout the YSP both outdoors and in the indoor spaces and galleries, a huge body of work covering the complex world of race, culture and the worlds where they meet. As often is the case photography was not allowed. I took a photo of the above piece though, a very deceptive piece of 'African' cloth  which is actually made of fibre glass!

The day we were at the YSP was also the press day for the opening of 'Seizure' an exhibition of a building housed within its own building. We donned on our plastic booties and went into the transformed apartment made surreal by way of copper sulphate. Thousands of crystals coat every surface, begging to be touched!

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 The next day we travelled to Kent to see an exhibition of drawings by the sculptor Barbara Hepworth. She and her husband Ben Nicholson became friends with the surgeon who operated on one of their triplets. The surgeon who was also creative invited Barbara back to sit in during operations.

The drawings are a fascinating record of her time spent in the operating theatre. Her mark making helps us to see the concentration needed during procedures, the eyes and the hands of the medical staff being the focus of each picture.