Author Archives: Bridget Macklin

I am an artist working in the field of ceramics creating fragile porcelain pieces which are inspired by the environment or by peoples relationships with the environment and with each other and which often incorporate finds to support their narrative.

More on the Summer of Love

barbara-hepworth-two-forms-1937-copy[1]
Barbara Hepworth, Two forms. 1937
Three Forms 1935 Dame Barbara Hepworth 1903-1975 Presented by Mr and Mrs J.R. Marcus Brumwell 1964 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/T00696
Three Forms 1935 Dame Barbara Hepworth 1903-1975 Presented by Mr and Mrs J.R. Marcus Brumwell 1964 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/T00696, aching to be gently stroked!

I have wanted to renew my acquaintance with Barbara Hepworth for some time and what better opportunity than the exhibition Sculpture for a Modern World in London this summer.

Hepworth always used to make it into my list of strong influences but over the past two years, during the diploma she has been superseded by a number of ceramic artists and it is not done to list too many influences on ones profile etc and so poor old Barbara became relegated to the back pages for a bit.  However, having been to the Tate Britain the other day and met a number of old friends and a few new and fabulous pieces, she is going back where she belongs, along side Richard Long and Adam Buick.  The exhibition follows Barbara Hepworth’s rise to fame and included a number of pieces by other artists who were an influence on her work, including sculptures by Gill and paintings by Ben Nicholson.  So maybe, if I make a clear note here that she is one of my major influences, then when Tate Britain does a retrospective on the Life and Works of Bridget Macklin they will remember to include a couple of her pieces alongside mine!

So why do I love her work so much?  Because she was right – about so much, but importantly about relationships between making and the ideas.  Actually, I think I should let her speak for herself on this because she put it so much better than I can.

‘There must be a perfect unity between the idea, the substance and the dimension: this unity gives scale.  The idea – the imaginative concept – actually is the giving of life and vitality to material; but when we come to define these qualities we find that they have very little to do with the physical aspect of the sculpture.  When we say that a great sculpture has vision, power, vitality, scale, poise, form or beauty, we are not speaking of physical attributes.  Vitality is not a physical, organic attribute of sculpture – it is a spiritual inner life.  Power is not man power or physical capacity – it is an inner force and energy.  Form realisation is not just any three-dimensional mass – it is the chosen, perfect form, of perfect size and shape, for the sculptural embodiment of the idea.  Vision is not sight – it is the perception of the mind.  It is the discernment of the reality of life, a piecing of the superficial surfaces of material existence, that gives a work of art its own life and purpose and significant power.’  (Barbara Hepworth in Sculpture, Circle: International Survey of Constructive Art 1937.  Taken from the Tate Britain hand out for the exhibition Sculpture of a Modern World).

I believe that, as makers, we would all do well to have these words tattooed on our arms so that as we are working we can refer to them constantly and never lose sight of what we are doing.  As I explored the exhibition I experienced a wonderful inner tranquillity which stemmed from being in the presence of so many beautiful and balanced forms.  Just one little thing though, these sculptures ache to be felt.  When you visit the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Garden in St Ives, Cornwall, you can walk amongst the sculptures and get up close and personal.  Here, in the rarefied atmosphere of London it would give the curators an apoplectic fit if you went within a mile of the pieces.  I would like the Tate to take note that, when the time comes for my retrospective, there are to be no glass cases and the pieces are to be available for all the senses, touch included.

Journey to the Northern Quarter

Manchester craft and design
A wonderful space where maker and customer can interact easily

Last week end found me travelling to Manchester.  Before I went my impression of the place was that it is in the North West so it rains a lot and – they have trams, right?

What a vibrant city!  I walked out of Piccadilly Station into a buzzing lively world.  Yes, the pavements were a bit damp; yes, I have to use my umbrella more that I would chose to; yes, I was almost run down by a couple of trains running down the road.  But look beyond that and you see a city which is a microcosm of exciting, interesting regeneration of old industrial England at its very best.  It is not quite Venice but there are a considerable number of canals and the redevelopment of some of the wharfs along the waterways are wonderful.  There is everything from old Victorian warehouse conversion to brand new build and for ideas on affordable housing, look no further than Islington Wharf where a company supplies slot-together units in which a family has considerable choice about internal layout whilst costs are attractively low because of the simple base unit construct and mass production – clever!

So what about the art?  On Friday I found myself in Caslefield Gallery.  Run by artists this is one of Northern England’s most active and successful organisations for developing emerging contemporary artists and practice.  Their current exhibition, Real Painting, explores the material components of painting and reminded me a bit of some of the exploratory work which I did with Ruth Franklin on a fabulous course a few years ago at City Lit.  It features works by a group of artists which includes  Angela de la Cruz, who lives and works in London and is represented by the Lisson Gallery, Jo McGonical  from Manchester who is currently undertaking a PhD at Leeds University and  David Goerk  who works in New York and is represented by Howard Scott Gallery, New York and Larry Becker Contemporary Art, Philadelphia.  the impression I had was of a gallery which has a real interest in promoting lively contemporary work from a wide range of people and places and this was magnified by the friendliness of the staff who went out of their way to make a stranger to the city feel welcome.

Later I visited the Northern Quarter and discovered the gem which is the Mancester craft and Design Centre.  Housed in an old fish market this space is both studio and gallery for about 30 makers.  Each artist has their own space the back of which is a studio and the front a shop.  Many of the spaces are shared which means that they can be open every day of the week without individual artists having to be present every day.  It represents a fabulous model of a place where the artists can interact easily with their customers on a regular basis.  An arrangement from which all sides benefit.  The café is pretty amazing too!

I was not in Manchester for long and whilst there I had an awful lot to accomplish but I shall return.  I have yet to see the Whitworth, Manchester Art Gallery, John Rylands Library, the Lowry Centre or the People’s History Museum – treats in store for a rainy day!