Our past exhibitions

A Living Collection continues to showcase art works that have been donated or fundraised for to keep Wakefield’s art collection ‘a living collection’ for future generations to enjoy.

This exhibition unites some of Hepworth’s most iconic sculptures with innovative works by artists working in her legacy, creating a dynamic dialogue around the body, movement, and performance.

The first major solo exhibition of Kira Freije’s work in the UK comprising 20 life-size figures arranged in small groupings in various states of action.

Artist and author Edmund de Waal has curated the first major exhibition of acclaimed Danish ceramicist Axel Salto, considered one of the greatest masters of 20th-century ceramic art.

A Living Collection showcases the many new and recent acquisitions that have joined Wakefield's art collection.

A survey exhibition of one of Britain’s foremost ceramicists, Elizabeth Fritsch (b.1940). The exhibition will bring together over 100 works made between the 1970s and 2013 drawn largely from the artist’s own rarely-seen private collection. It will explore Fritsch’s extraordinary forms, techniques and influences across four decades of her career.

In conversation with The Hepworth Wakefield's Interim Artist Director, Laura Smith, Freije will discuss how she creates her life-sized figures, the dynamic staging that is cinematic in both effect and its references, and how her practice is deeply reflective of her interest in literature.

★★★★ The Guardian
One of 'the exhibitions you must see in 2025' Art Fund

This major retrospective - the first in over 25 years - will chart the development of Chadwick’s art from her renowned degree show piece In the Kitchen (1977) through to her Piss Flowers (1991–2).

'The stunning parenting paintings every mother should see.' ★★★★★ The Guardian

Caroline Walker: Mothering will bring together works made over the past five years with new paintings Walker will make for the exhibition exploring themes of motherhood and early-years care.

Drawing from Wakefield's art collection, Resonant Forms explores the dynamic relationship between visual art, music and sound, and reveals how artists across generations have embraced rhythm, harmony and resonance in their work.