A Living Collection

This new exhibition showcases art works that have been donated or fundraised for to keep Wakefield’s art collection ‘a living collection’ for future generations to enjoy. Many of the works have joined the collection in the last 18 months and are displayed for the first time since their acquisition.

Since Wakefield’s art collection was established in 1923, it has had an aim of nurturing an understanding of contemporary art and its relation to modern life. The Hepworth Wakefield continues to develop the collection with this aim, showing how art can help us understand and explore current lived experiences.

On display will be Drowning in the thick air of the Dissolute, 2024 – by Li Hei Di, generously gifted to us by Jennifer and Jon Weaver and with thanks to Pippy Houldsworth Gallery; and Nour Jaouda’s textile work, Dust that Never Settles, 2024, acquired through the Contemporary Art Society x Frieze Collections Fund.

Works by Eileen Cooper and Bridget Riley, donated through the Tim Sayer Bequest, and Andrew Cranston’s painting, A snake came to my coffee table on a hot, hot day to drink there, 2023, acquired through the JW Anderson Collections Fund, are also shown.

In recent years we have significantly added to the ceramics collection through an Art Fund New Collecting Award, as well as through numerous donations and bequests. To demonstrate this, a range of ceramics will be presented, including Ashraf Hanna’s Yellow Undulating Angular Bowl, 2022 and Adam Buick’s Intertidal Jar, 2023. As well as ceramics by Val Barry, Betty Blandino, Jill Crowley, Bernard Leach and Ursula Morley-Price.