Common Ground, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield
Since 1983 Dorset-based arts and environmental charity Common Ground has been working with artists to explore ways to engage people with their local environment. This exhibition offers an overview of some of their most successful projects over the last three decades, including the ‘New Milestones’ project in Dorset, which resulted in the community commissioning various sculptures for the landscape by artists including Peter Randall-Page, Andy Goldsworthy and John Maine. Also on display are various letterpress posters and pamphlets by artist Dennis Gould, diary works from Goldsworthy’s residency on Hampstead Heath in 1986, plus Supernature, a new sound work by South African artist James Webb in which the artist creates conversations between trees within the Yorkshire Sculpture Park landscape.
Until 2 September www.ysp.org.uk
Richard Long: Circle to Circle, Lisson Gallery, London
Circular motifs are nothing new in relation to Richard Long’s work. As far back as 1966 he made Turf Circle, convincing a neighbour in Bristol to allow him to remove triangular sections of soil in his garden, before putting back the grass as a slightly lowered, circular bed. The focal point of Long’s latest show is a floor-based stone circle, Flint Wheel, which is constructed from Norfolk flint. The show also includes a wall mounted mud work, entitled 360° Crescent, plus a text work made after a continuous walk of 39 miles from a full moonrise to the sunrise.
Until 23 June www.lissongallery.com
Max Eastley, Ikon, Birmingham
Max Eastley is known for combining kinetic sculpture and sound in works that explore the natural environment and human interventions. In a wide ranging career he’s collaborated with a variety of artists and musicians, including Brian Eno and David Toop, and is also a member of the Cape Farewell Climate Change Project. His new installation is located about 20 minutes walk from Ikon on top of Perrott’s Folly, a 29 metre Grade II listed tower built in 1758. The work features eight lightweight Aeolian harps whose sound is amplified and fed to loudspeakers at lower levels in the tower, which combine with the sounds from a number of acoustic sculptures. The result is an immersive aural experience.
Until 10 June www.ikon-gallery.org
Ambiguous Implements, Contemporary Forward, Rochdale
This show brings together 18 artists from the fields of design, jewellery, ceramics, metalwork and sculpture whose work offers a playful twist on the familiar objects of day-to-day domestic life. The tools used for eating, grooming, cooking and cleaning, have been given new meaning through sculptural assemblages, with seemingly banal objects taking on new functions. Artists include: Rob Anderson, Aimee Bollu, Caroline Broadhead, David Clarke, Nuala Clooney, Rachael Colley, Rosie Deegan, Kate Farley, Daniel Fogarty, Joe Hartley, Kate Haywood, Jasleen Kaur, Julie Mellor, Maria Militsi, Rebecca Ounstead, Matt Rowe, Jonathan Trayte and Abbie Williams.
Until 30 June www.contemporaryforwardrochdaleartgallery.org
Idea of North, Baltic, Gateshead
This group exhibition explores northern identity through architecture, photography, music and design. Spanning the vast space of the Baltic’s level 4 gallery, there is a lot to see, including the recreation of historic architectural structures and guest curated displays. Highlights include a new film by artists David Blandy and Larry Achiampong which combines footage of Hadrian’s Wall with computer gaming visuals, plus a selection of work curated by Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, founder member of the Amber collective. Her display explores the representation of women and girls in the North East by women photographers between the 1970s and the present.
Until 30 September www.baltic.art
Images:
1. Andy Goldsworthy, Silver Birch Forms For Hooke Park, Hooke Park Dorset, April 1986. Courtesy: Yorkshire Sculpture Park
2. Richard Long, installation image, Circle to Circle, Lisson Gallery. © Richard Long. Courtesy: Lisson Gallery
3. Max Eastley, Wind Sounds, KunstFestSpiele Festival, Herrenhausen Gardens, Hanover, Germany, 2016. Courtesy: Ikon
4. Ambiguous Implements, installation shot. Courtesy: Touchstones Rochdale
5. Idea of North, installation view, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. © 2018 Baltic. Photo: John McKenzie
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