Winchester's Year of Sculpture
Damien Hirst, Rachel Whiteread and Marc Quinn are to exhibit their work in the city during Winchester's Year of Sculpture (April 2007- January 2008).
Hirst - one of the world's leading contemporary artists - will headline one of three major exhibitions taking place in Winchester in 2007 as part of the city's first Year of Sculpture.
A solo show of Hirst's seminal works, including A Thousand Years, Away from the flock and the 10 metre high bronze sculpture, The Virgin Mother, will be shown at Winchester's Great Hall from 21 September 2007 to 10 January 2008.
This collection of Hirst's works has previously never been displayed together under one roof.
David Batchelor, Rachel Whiteread and Marc Quinn are amongst other important artists whose work will be shown in Winchester Cathedral as part of Light. The exhibition will include an installation by Turner Prize nominee Darren Almond in the crypt, which has been home to Antony Gormley's Sound II sculpture since 1986. Light will run from 3rd May until 31st July 2007.
A third high profile exhibition, Rummage - Sculptors' Drawing will offer visitors to Winchester the chance to see drawings by contemporary British artists. A total of 50 artists including Anthony Caro, Richard Deacon and Richard Long and have all loaned preparatory sketches and drawings to the exhibition which will give an insight into the way sculptors work.
Rummage will run between 25 April 2007 and 5 June 2007 at the University of Southampton's Winchester Gallery.
Damien Hirst commented on his decision to headline Winchester's Year of Sculpture: "I wasn't sure what to expect when I visited the Great Hall. I had recently done a show at the Archaeological Museum in Naples and enjoyed working in a space steeped in so much history.
He added: "I loved seeing my work in that context and the Great Hall has a similar appeal for me. Different surroundings bring different meaning to works of art and I like the idea of working in unusual spaces, where a viewer wouldn't necessarily expect to see my work.
"As soon as I saw the Round Table, it reminded me of the rose stained glass windows that inspired my current series of butterfly wing paintings."
Winchester's Year of Sculpture is curated by Prof John Gibbons, head of sculpture at the University of Southampton. The exhibitions will be supplemented with a series of fringe exhibitions, installations, talks and tours for adults and children.
Madeleine Bessborough, Director of The New Art Centre at Roche Court, is patron of the Year of Sculpture.
To find out more go to www.yearofsculpture.com
Further details
Winchester's first Year of Sculpture will run between April 2007 and January 2008. It comprises three major exhibitions, which are as follows:
Title: 'Rummage - Sculptors' Drawing'
Location: Winchester Gallery, Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton, Park Avenue, Winchester SO23 8DL
Dates: 25th April - 5th June 2007
Private view: 24th April 2007
Title:'Light'
Location: Winchester Cathedral, Winchester SO23 9LS
Dates: 3rd May - 31st July 2007
Press view: 2nd May 2007
Private view: 5th May 2007
Title: 'Damien Hirst: We're Born, We Look Around, We Die.'
Location: Great Hall*, Castle Avenue, Winchester SO23 8PJ
Dates: 21st September 2007 - 10th January 2008
Private view: 20th September 2007
*The Great Hall is owned and managed by Hampshire County Council
Further information:
For more information on the Year of Sculpture, please visit: www.yearofsculpture.com For more information on Winchester, please go to: www.visitwinchester.co.uk or phone the tourist information centre on tel 01962 840 500
For media enquiries:
For general media enquiries and images, please contact: Susie Tempest/Kate Popham, The Saltmarsh Partnership at: Susie/kate@saltmarshpr.co.uk or phone 020 7928 1600
For media enquiries relating to the curator John Gibbons and 'Rummage - Sculptors' Drawing', please contact: Clare Sefton/Sue Wilson, The University of Southampton at: cs6@soton.ac.uk/sjew@soton.ac.uk
For media enquiries relating to 'Light' please contact Abha Thakor, Winchester Cathedral, at: abha.thakor@winchester.anglican.org or phone 01962 624 786
For media enquiries relating to the Damien Hirst exhibition, please contact: Krissy Lloyd, Hampshire County Council at krissy.lloyd@hants.gov.uk or phone: 01962 846 06.