The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture is a biennial prize for sculpture named for

Barbara Hepworth Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leadi ...

and awarded by

The Hepworth Wakefield The Hepworth Wakefield is an art museum in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, which opened on 21 May 2011. The gallery is situated on the south side of the River Calder and takes its name from artist and sculptor Barbara Hepworth who was born an ...

. The prize seeks to recognise "a British or UK-based artist of any age, at any stage in their career, who has made a significant contribution to the development of contemporary sculpture".

History

The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture was launched by The Hepworth Wakefield in October 2015, as part of the celebrations marking the gallery's 5th anniversary. It has a prize value of £30,000 and will be awarded every two years.

Inaugural prize, 2016

A five-strong judging panel chaired by the gallery's director, Simon Wallis, selected the sculptors shortlisted for the inaugural prize. The latter were named on 21 March 2016 as

Phyllida Barlow Dame Phyllida Barlow (born 4 April 1944) is a British artist. She studied at Chelsea College of Art (1960–63) and the Slade School of Art (1963–66). She joined the staff of the Slade in the late 1960s and taught there for more than forty y ...

Steven Claydon Steven Claydon (born 1969) is a sculptor and musician based in London. Claydon was born in London. He has performed and shown work internationally in exhibitions at Tate Modern in London, Art Basel in Switzerland, in Düsseldorf and Portikus in ...

Helen Marten Helen Elizabeth Marten (born 1985 in Macclesfield) is an English artist based in London who works in sculpture, video, and installation art. Marten studied at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art at the University of Oxford (2005–2008) an ...

and

David Medalla David Cortez Medalla (23 March 1942 – 28 December 2020) was a Filipino international artist and political activist. His work ranged from sculpture and kinetic art to painting, installation, and performance art. Early life David Cortez Med ...

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

's '' Front Row'' noted, "Their work featuring household junk, hammocks, foam bubbles, magnetised pennies and paintings suggests sculpture is a broad church these days", and writing in the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'', Harriet Fitch Little called it "a shortlist of uncommon breadth". The selected works went on public display in October 2016, and the artists discussed contemporary sculpture the following day on Radio 4. On 17 November 2016, following approximately two hours of deliberations by the panel, the winner of the inaugural prize was announced to be

. Accepting the prize money she said she would be sharing it with the others on the shortlist, saying "In the light of the world's ever lengthening political shadow, the art world has a responsibility to show how democracy should work. I was flattered to be on the shortlist and even more so if my fellow nominees would share the Prize with me." She added, "Here's to a furthering of communality and a platform for everyone".

2018 award

In March 2018, the shortlist for the 2018 award was announced. It comprised Michael Dean,

Mona Hatoum Mona Hatoum ( ar, منى حاطوم; born 1952) is a British-Palestinian multimedia and installation artist who lives in London. Biography Mona Hatoum was born in 1952 in Beirut, Lebanon, to Palestinian parents. Although born in Lebanon, Hatoum ...

, Phillip Lai, Magali Reus and

Cerith Wyn Evans Cerith Wyn Evans (born 1958 in Llanelli) is a Welsh conceptual artist, sculptor and film-maker. In 2018 he won the £30,000 Hepworth Prize for Sculpture. Early life and education The son of Sulwyn and Myfanwy Evans, Evans was born in Llanelli. ...

. Their work was displayed at the Hepworth Wakefield gallery from the end of October of that year. Wyn Evans was announced as the winner on 15 November 2018.

References

External links

Live announcement
of the 2018 winner. {{Barbara Hepworth Sculpture awards British art awards Awards established in 2016 2016 establishments in the United Kingdom

History

Inaugural prize, 2016

2018 award

See also

References

External links