Annie Montgomerie - Missies and Nippers at Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Annie Montgomerie - Felby

 

Annie Montgomerie - Missies and Nippers is on at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) until Sunday 1 November 2026.  I find Annie's work fascinating and love to inspect her individual characters.  The very life like, anthropomorphised creatures are kitted out in clothes and shoes and are usually carrying a toy which may be a smaller version of the creature holding it.  As the title suggests her characters are rooted in childhood. Their eyes are particularly startling.  I think the smaller creatures look like taxidermy with clothes on. 

Annie Montgomerie - Larfa

They are very cleverly created. We are told that the heads and faces are sculpted with plasticine and layered with fabric to achieve a stiff outer shell.  The bodies, arms and legs are constructed round wire armatures or found objects. Dressed in vintage finds, Annie's creatures have an old fashioned threadbare look.

Annie Montgomerie - Mumfs

Some were presented standing on alphabet blocks which I thought was particularly effective.

Annie Montgomerie - Willow

Annie Montgomerie - Teartear

Slowboy looked very melancholy...

Annie Montgomerie - Slowboy

There were more exotic creatures too...

Annie Montgomerie - Missies and Nippers (various)

I think you might find them like Marmite - you'll love them or hate them.  Whichever it is for you, you can't help but admire the construction and attention to detail.  Go see!

New Exhibitions at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield - Carol Douglas, Leila Babirye & Bharti Kher

Carol Douglas - Autumn Kitchen II

I went along to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park to see the Carol Douglas exhibition Actually I Can.  It didn't disappoint.  Carol is a York based artist, who using acrylics on canvas, paints everyday objects and people in an slightly abstracted way. She only embarked on her painting career in her 60s and has become very popular.  I have seen her work at several York Open Studios events and if you're from further afield you might have seen her work in TOAST stores across the UK in 2022 or in other exhibitions across the country.  Actually I Can is on until Sunday 27 October 2024.  Here's a flavour...

Carol Douglas - Checked Kitchen Cloth, Early Breakfast, Dinner for One 

Carol Douglas - Conversation II & Conversation III

Carol Douglas - Grey Corner

Carol Douglas - Grey Fruit Bowl II, Two Vessels, Diamond Patterned Cloth, Flower Vase, Grey Fruit Bowl, Check Table Cloth II
(L to R from top to bottom)

Carol Douglas - Secret Meeting II, Encounter, Secret Meeting, First Date, Evening Walk, Orange Skirt

Carol Douglas - Tango

Another talented York maker, also championed by TOAST, is Kate Semple.  Kate is one of TOAST's 2024 New Makers and her beautiful ceramics are currently available in the YSP shop...

Kate Semple Vases - YSP Shop

Of course, whilst I was at YSP I also went to see Leilah Babirye's Obumu (Unity) in the Chapel.  Her work reinvents trash as something beautiful.  Leilah Babirye is based in the USA but was born in Uganda and the work on show was made in summer 2023 when she visited YSP.  The wood is from the YSP and was sculpted with a chainsaw and then charred to black and waxed before elements from the YSP workshops were added.  Her work references African masks to explore the diversity of LGBTQ+ identities.  I loved these sculptures.  This exhibition is on until Sunday 8 September 2024. Take a look...

Leilah Babirye - Obumu (Unity)

Leilah Babirye - Obumu (Unity)

Leilah Babirye - Obumu (Unity)

Leilah Babirye - Obumu (Unity)

Leilah Babirye - Obumu (Unity)

And in the Underground Gallery and outside is Bharti Kher: Alchemies which is on until Sunday 27 April 2025.  These sculptures and 2D pieces are based round the idea of transformation. This is just a very small selection of the pieces I liked...

Bharti Kher - The hot winds that blow from the West (218)

This piece is made from old radiators that Kher had shipped from the USA to India.  We are told they look like animal carcasses with their ribs exposed and the title refers to changing east west power dynamics.

Bharti Kher - Milk Teeth

Bharti Kher - Milk Teeth (detail)

Bharti Kher - A poem for night creatures

These two pieces are made from smashed mirrors with bindis attached.  A bindi is a dot of pigment worn between the eyebrows of South Asian women.  They are supposed to represent the "third eye",  relating to inner wisdom and how we see the world. These stick on felt bindis that Kher has added to these pieces have become a signature part of her work.  She has been using them since 1995.  The fractured mirrors suggest many different views.

Bharti Kher - Virus XV

Bharti Kher began her Virus series in 2010 and intends to continue until 2039, with a work each year.  Here the work consists of a spiral of bindis and a pre-written text prophesing what might happen in each year and for those past years, some facts about what has actually happened.  They are wide ranging and might relate to climate, health, politics, conflict, technology and scientific discovery.  At the end of each prohesy is her age which is the only thing that is certain.

The YSP is a great place to visit - interesting exhibitions, a great shop and cafe and plenty of outdoor space and sculpture to explore.  If you've never been, make a date to go!

Annie Montgomerie - Hand Me Downs - Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Annie Montgomerie - Giraffe

Annie Montgomerie's anthropomorphic creatures capture a sense of nostalgic childhood when children played hide and seek, skipped along the pavement, explored the woods whilst wearing hand me downs from their siblings and couldn't keep their socks up.

Annie Montgomerie - Toftly the Dog

Annie Montgomerie
- Urshalla the Cat

Cats, dogs, foxes, alpacas, bears and more appear in her collection and often have a special "loved" toy with them. 

 

Annie Montgomerie - Alpacas, Bombom the bear, Locka & Eztree the foxes

Her making starts with the face which she creates from muslin and glue until she has a hard outer shell whilst the body and clothes of her creatures are made from vintage finds. Annie says, "I use muslin, 100% wool felt, ‘up-cycled’ wool garments, velvet, leather, cotton, moleskin and blankets for wall hangings and figures. I then stitch on curious little things I find including vintage buttons, charms and jewellery."

Annie Montgomerie - Agny the Sun Bear

Annie Montgomerie - Blip the Mouse

They are skillfully made and spookily realistic. I found them rather unsettling but fascinating.

Annie Montgomerie - Fizzle the Owl

Annie Mongomery - Pidge the Pigeon

The Hand Me Downs exhibition has closed now but was at the wonderful Yorkshire Sculpture Park which is always a great day out.

Chiharu Shiota at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Chiharu Shiota at YSP

Installed in St Bartholomew's Chapel at YSP, Japenese artist Chiharu Shiota's Beyond Time installation uses a web of white wool to entwine a metal piano, reminding us of the organ that used to be in the Chapel, and to trap copies of memorial service papers and bell ringing scores also from the Chapel.  The work invokes a sense of memory and place, of what went on and what was experienced there since it was built in 1744.

Chiharu Shiota at YSP

Chiharu Shiota at YSP

The exhibit involved the installation of metal rods across the ceiling and false walls to which the thread (2000 balls of woollen yarn) was attached - look out for the staples.  It took ten people, ten days to install.

Chiharu Shiota at YSP

Chiharu Shiota at YSP

Exuding an amazing sense of beauty and calm, this is definitely a "must see" installation - on at YSP until the 4 November 2018. Go see!

Mister Finch - The Wish Post at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park

In case you missed the recent Mister Finch exhibiton - The Wish Post - at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park here's a taster...

Mister Finch - Dashery Bunny

Mister Finch - Toadstools

Mister Finch - Hedgehogs

Mister Finch - Bundle Hedgehog

Mister Finch - Whistle Swan

Mister Finch - Squirrels

Mister Finch - Badgers

Mister Finch - Hobnail Badger

Mister Finch - Pitch Mole

Mister Finch - Rats

Mister Finch - Moss Rat

Mister Finch - Fernsby Fox

Mister Finch - Birdle Toadstool Hare

Mister Finch - Moth

Mister Finch, a Leeds based textile artist, has constructed this hand sewn menagerie inspired by British folklore, the Bretton Estate and Yorkshire wildlife.  Made from vintage tapesteries, antique silverware, discarded wire and more, Finch's gothic kingdom of woodland creatures collect other animals wishes which are breathed into envelopes and posted into toadstool postboxes.  In true fairytale fashion, one night each year their wishes are carried away on the wind and come true in the Wish Post festival.