Yorkshire Sculpture Park New Exhibition: Angela Harding: A Chronicle Of Birds And Beasts

Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) welcomes acclaimed printmaker, illustrator and author Angela Harding back after 10 years with a new exhibition, A Chronicle of Birds and Beasts.

The exhibition marks a significant milestone in Harding’s career and celebrates her status as one of the UK’s most recognisable and respected artists working in print today.

Featuring a wide range of new linocuts screenprints, oil and acrylic paintings, alongside painted wooden birds, the exhibition will include a special tetratypch of large prints created for the show, - Entrapped Eagle Waking Fox, Curlews and Hoopoe and White Hart and Crown, printed by Selby-based master printmaker Dan Bugg, marking more than a 10-year collaborative relationship in printmaking.

Living in Rutland, the smallest county in the UK, Harding draws daily inspiration from the natural world around her - from sheep-filled fields to a garden alive with birdsong. Deeply aware of the environmental challenges facing the planet, she has collaborated with conservationists, writers and authors to create new works that respond to the urgent issues of our time.

Many of the new works are inspired by Harding’s nine-week artist residency on Fair Isle earlier this year and highlights include a collection of small oil and acrylic paintings, book illustrations and works created for The Wilding Project with Isabella Tree, and Blossomise with Simon Armitage. Harding and Armitage, who have collaborated previously, reunite for this exhibition with the current UK Poet Laureate providing words to accompany illustrations Harding has created for two large scale works which focus on hare protection.

The Visitor Centre will also be transformed by a decorative display of hand-painted and stencilled wooden birds reflecting the Yorkshire Dales and moorland areas, suspended overhead, while the concourse windows will feature vinyls and hand-embellished scenes created by Harding, accompanying a haiku poem written by Armitage. Since her last exhibition at YSP in 2016, Harding has worked with major publishers on a range of projects and has established herself as an author in her own right. Her instantly recognisable style has earned her a wide following among nature lovers and readers alike. This exhibition brings together the many strands of her practice, highlighting the breadth and depth of her creativity.

It’s hard to believe that a decade has gone by since my last exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. In those ten years I have been given such great opportunities to develop my work further and I can trace the starting point for my first publications from that 2016 exhibition.

It feels a great honour to be returning to YSP with A Chronicle of Birds and Beasts. Initially I thought it would be a look back at those intervening years but, having been given this opportunity, I have really enjoyed producing many new artworks especially for the show. As ever, collaboration is at the heart of what I do so working with Simon Armitage on the Lepus poem and the window words is particularly special.

I have also been working closely with Dan Bugg from Penfold Press on four images that are the largest prints I’ve made and sit at the heart of the show. These four prints have taken more the 18 months to produce and illustrate the key theme of A Chronicle of Birds and Beasts. Though they sit as a block of four they also sit separately and have a narrative within each one.Angela Harding

YSP’s Retail Programme and Product Development Manager Amanda Peach, said: “Angela’s return to YSP after ten years is a really special moment. Her work has such warmth and richness, A Chronicle of Birds and Beasts brings together the many strands of her practice in a way that feels both deeply personal and wonderfully expansive.

“From her new large-scale prints to the collaborations and works inspired by Fair Isle, this exhibition offers visitors a remarkable insight into the breadth of her creativity, and we’re delighted to be presenting it at YSP.”

All works from the exhibition will be available to purchase, with proceeds supporting YSP’s charitable aims. Finance options through Own Art is also offered on most items from the exhibition via YSP’s shops. Merchandise inspired by Harding’s work will also be available in the YSP shops including scarves, mugs and wildlife-friendly Christmas crackers filled with wildflower seed balls.