Eva Rothschild sculpture goes on display in Harlow in an exciting sculpture exchange with The Hepworth Wakefield
27 Jul 2021
In May, The Hepworth Wakefield worked with Harlow Art Trust and Hertfordshire County Council to reunite Barbara Hepworth's major commissions for the Festival of Britain for the first time in 70 years in The Hepworth Wakefield Garden. Today, a 10-foot-tall sculpture by Eva Rothschild goes on display in Harlow as part of an exciting sculpture exchange project.
Bright Eyes, a sculpture by leading female artist Eva Rothschild, is now on view at Glebelands, Harlow until March 2022. The work is displayed on the site where Barbara Hepworth’s Contrapuntal Forms is usually located. Contrapuntal Forms, now on display in The Hepworth Wakefield Garden, was the artist’s first public commission and the first sculpture in Harlow’s collection.
Rothschild is internationally renowned for her large-scale public commissions. Her notable works include Tate Britain’s 2009 Duveen Gallery Commission, the Whitechapel Gallery’s Children’s Commission 2012, and most recently the playful and interactive My World and Your World at London’s Kings Cross. Her show Hot Touch was the inaugural exhibition at The Hepworth Wakefield when the gallery opened in 2011.
Harlow Art Trust commissions and cares for public art in the post-war new town of Harlow. The Trust oversees a collection of over 100 sculptures sited across Harlow’s civic, residential, and open spaces. It includes works by internationally renowned sculptors including Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Auguste Rodin. The Trust also hosts a sculpture-focused exhibition and events programme at the Gibberd Gallery, Harlow Civic Centre. Harlow Art Trust is planning an event to celebrate the historic sculpture exchange project later in the year.
Kate Harding, Artistic Director at Harlow Art Trust, said: “The loan brings with it the opportunity to experience a new piece of art in a setting that has otherwise changed little over the past 70 years. We hope residents and visitors alike will enjoy Bright Eyes and be encouraged to seek out more of Harlow Sculpture Town’s unique and growing collection.”
Eleanor Clayton, curator at The Hepworth Wakefield, said:
“We are delighted to collaborate with Harlow on this exciting sculptural exchange. Barbara Hepworth’s art has an enduring influence on Eva Rothschild’s work and, as Rothschild was the first contemporary artist to have an exhibition at The Hepworth Wakefield, we felt a sculpture by her was the perfect choice to temporarily replace Hepworth’s Contrapuntal Forms. We very much hope the people of Harlow enjoy experiencing Rothschild’s Bright Eyes as much as visitors to The Hepworth Wakefield are enjoying seeing Contrapuntal Forms, Hepworth’s first major public commission, in the city of her birth.”
