Out Of The Fire!

Behind the Scenes at the foundry with our photographer Colin Davison...

'Very dusty and quite dangerous!' were the first words Colin used to describe his experience of the foundry where two new Antony Gormley pieces are being made for Harewood...

The foundry process is only one part of the production, done one at a time, the piece is prepared ready at the studio, made from polystyrene blocks carefully and precisely cut and assembled to plan, then sprayed with a ceramic coating to create a shell of sorts around the polystyrene.

The piece is then buried in hard-packed sand, this is called 'ramming'. A day or two later, 'blowback' sparks fly as the hot iron is 'poured', the sand acts as a barrier to contain the hot metal once the polystyrene has burned away... and then it is all left to cool completely...

A couple of days later the piece must be 'knocked out' and excavated from 2 tons of sand, it's a strange and gruesome sight, black with ash and rough around the edges... the piece is then ready to go to the studio to be 'fettled', essentially cleaned up ready for oxidising and then on to Harewood ready for the exhibition!

A specially commissioned film documenting the process of the two pieces being made will be shown alongside the exhibition at Harewood, including an exclusive interview with Antony Gormley himself... don't miss the show this summer!

Find out more about the exhibition and visiting Harewood on our website here... www.harewood.org/gormley

Announcing Gormley at Harewood

At last night's private view to launch Harewood’s Epstein exhibition Finding Adam, Diane Howse (Viscountess Lascelles) announced that sculptor Antony Gormley will be showing two new pieces of work in the Terrace Gallery later this summer.

Our current exhibition 'Finding Adam' explores the epic journey of Sir Jacob Epstein’s magnificent alabaster sculpture Adam from his origins in Epstein’s studio in London to Harewood House in Yorkshire, via Blackpool, New York, Cape Town and the Edinburgh Festival, as well as celebrating his return from cleaning and exhibiting at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

"Adam and Epstein are a very hard act to follow," said artist/curator Diane Howse. "I knew of Antony’s relationship to Epstein’s work and all of us here are huge fans of Antony, so we’re thrilled to have two pieces by him in the Terrace Gallery later this summer. It’s very much in keeping with our policy of showing the best of contemporary art alongside our historic collections, something my father-in-law Lord Harewood set in motion when he brought Adam here in the 1970’s. Yorkshire is rapidly becoming the place to see modern sculpture: the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and the Henry Moore Institute are well-established of course and they are about to be joined by the Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield, which opens later this month. We’re proud to be playing our part in this celebration, not only with the Epstein exhibition, but also by showing work by one of Britain’s finest living artists."

Antony Gormley adds: “I am delighted to have the opportunity to show two works at Harewood House, long associated with ‘Adam’, Epstein’s powerful evocation of masculine yearning carved from a massive block of English alabaster.

My material is iron. Smelted and cast in Wednesbury, it also engages with the block but uses the language of architecture to interpret the male human body as an unstable space made up of individual cells fused and propped together. The room in which the works will be shown is supported by four stone columns that make you aware of the load path of the building. I hope that these two works, in which columns and masses describe an unsteady vertical stack twisting through 90 degrees, will allow the viewer to think about his or her own body as a vertical tower.”

Antony Gormley's installation will open to the public in the Terrace Gallery at Harewood on Saturday 13th August and will run till 30th October.

You can read more about the forthcoming Gormley exhibition on our webpage here... www.harewood.org/gormley

Don't be late for this very important date!...

The giant mushrooms have arrived, stallholders are setting up in the sunshine and the children's funfair is ready to go! We're all set for a fantastic Easter at Harewood and an extravaganza of all things Alice...

It's been a busy week setting up for the Mad Hatter's Tea Party event and Head Gardener Trevor Nicholson has even created our very own rabbit hole for the White Rabbit! You can see it in the West Garden at Harewood if you visit anytime this Bank Holiday weekend...

Jam tart making, easter trails, tea service displays, rabbit biscuit decorating, story telling shows, hotch-potch paint-a-pot, performing arts and craft activities will mean there's something to keep everyone entertained...

Enjoy!

Visit our website to see what's on, book tickets online and read more about Harewood...

Hello! magazine at Harewood

This week's issue of Hello! magazine (18th - 25th April) sees Harewood as the back-drop to an interview with Coronation Street star Katherine Kelly.

If you visited Harewood one sunny Sunday a couple of weeks ago you may have seen Katherine and the Hello! crew, who visited for the photo-shoot in Harewood's award-winning Gardens and Grounds.

Photos were taken in Harewood's lakeside gardens where the cherry blossom was in full bloom, on the Terrace with Harewood's breathtaking 18th Century facade and fountains in the background and also in the West Garden where thousands of bulbs and spring blooms grow beneath the canopies of the trees above.

Katherine herself remembers visiting Harewood as a child so it was a fitting place for an interview which coincides with the announcement that Katherine will be leaving Coronation Street this year... we'll have to wait and see how the storyline pans out on the soap, but it's guaranteed to be a finale to remember!

The full interview with Katherine Kelly is in Hello! magazine, out now.

Read more about Harewood's Gardens on our website and check out Opening Times and Prices...

Adam arrives safely back to Harewood

Sir Jacob Epstein’s iconic sculpture ‘Adam’ returns to Harewood House today from the Royal Academy of Arts, where he has been displayed in the landmark exhibition ‘Modern British Sculpture’.

Click here to visit our website and watch the video to see Adam restored to the Entrance Hall here at Harewood and to hear from Anna Robinson (Head of House and Collections) as well as Jim Barrett (MOMART).

Finding Adam opens at Harewood House on 22nd April and explores the sculpture’s strange and epic journey from Louis Tussaud’s warehouse in Blackpool, to the Edinburgh International Festival, to his present home here at Harewood.

Read more about the Finding Adam exhibition here...

Image credit: The York Press

Digging Up the Past..

In April this year Harewood will become the field-study school for the whole University of York Department of Archaeology. Over 80 students as well as the University of York archaeologists will be digging the site of ‘Gawthorpe’ the medieval manor house that stood on the site before the current Harewood House was completed in 1771.

Education sessions will allow school groups to explore the dig, get their hands dirty digging and talk to the archaeologists. Workshops, lectures and public tours of the dig as well as exhibits of finds will make up part of our Medieval Festival event taking place on Sat 16th & Sun 17th July so join us then to find out more!

Visit our What's On webpages for details of all our forthcoming events...

Justin Fletcher (aka Mr Tumble) confirmed for Harewood's Children's Festival

Preparations are well underway already for what is, by far and away our biggest event of the season.

This year we've planned a real Children's Fest with a whole host of characters and entertainment. We are thrilled we have been able to secure award-winning CBeebies presenter Justin Fletcher (aka Mr Tumble) for an appearance on the Monday and we've got our fingers crossed for sunshine!

It helps us with event planning if our visitors pre-book online ahead of the event. As an added bonus for doing so, you can pre-book tickets online now to be entered into our prize draw to win a VIP experience on the day…

Click here to read more or to book now...