Festive Fun

Get ready for the season of festive parties with dynamic and musical sculptures at Roche Court Sculpture Park. From vibrant and spirited dancing figures by Allen Jones, to the hum of Bill Woodrow’s gilded Celloswarm and the beat of Barry Flanagan’s Large Left-Handed Drummer.

Allen Jones
Sabine, 2020
Corten steel
225 x 165 x 130 cm
88 ⅝ x 65 x 51 ⅛ in.

Allen Jones RA (b.1937) is internationally recognised as a pioneer of the Pop Art movement during the 1960s. Jones' sculpture has evolved to portray expressive and stylised compositions involving figures in movement and performance.

Allen Jones studied at Hornsey College of Art and at the Royal College of Art where he worked alongside David Hockney, Peter Phillips and R.B. Kitaj. He has taught at art institutions around the world, including the Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg, the University of California, the Berlin University of the Arts and the Banff Center School of Fine Arts in Canada. Jones has exhibited internationally, including a major retrospective at the Royal Academy in 2014.

Bill Woodrow
Celloswarm, 2002
Bronze, stone and gold leaf
211 x 95 x 96 cm
6ft 11 x 3ft 1 ⅜ x 3ft 1 ¾ in.
Edition 4 of 8 plus 4 APs

Bill Woodrow is a pivotal figure in British contemporary sculpture. His ‘swarm series’, as shown in Celloswarm here at Roche Court, was an intense body of work that involved covering ordinary objects with frenzied masses of golden bees. The series was a response to Woodrow’s experience of a cluster of bees coating his hand at a beekeeping course in the late 1990s. Woodrow has exhibited extensively with solo shows at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield; Palacio Nacional de Queluz, Oporto, Portugal; Tate Britain and Tate Modern, London; Institut Mathildenhöhe, Darmstadt, Germany and Whitechapel Art Gallery, London. A major retrospective of his work was held at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, at the end of 2013.

Barry Flanagan
Large Left-Handed Drummer, 2006
Bronze
490 x 290 x 244 cm
16ft 1 x 9ft 6 x 8ft
Cast 2 from an edition of 5 plus 2 APs

Barry Flanagan (1941 - 2009) was one of Britain's pre-eminent sculptors. After graduating from St. Martin's School of Art in 1966, Flanagan swiftly received international critical acclaim for his intuitive and inventive approach to materials, which associated him to the emergent art movements of the time, including Arte Povera, Land Art and Process Art. He oscillated between the abstract and the figurative, largely using lumps of quarried Hornton stone or marble for his works.

His iconic sculptures of hares, cast in bronze show how he was drawn to the animal's anthropomorphic potential. These works continue to be remembered as an integral part of his playful and innovative practice. Flanagan exhibited worldwide during his lifetime and his works continue to be shown in arts institutions globally.

For Young Visitors

Visit Roche Court Sculpture Park this weekend to discover an extensive and mixed array of fun and lively contemporary sculpture.

For the month of December, younger visitors will receive a ‘Festive Fun’ Activity Booklet upon donation to the Roche Court Educational Trust. Take part in our winter sculpture hunt and create your own woven Christmas decoration inspired by artist, Ann Sutton.

To book your visit, please contact us by telephoning +44 (0)1980 862 244 or email at nac@sculpture.uk.com. For more information about opening hours and visitor guidelines, click here.