Public Art at South Hill Park
ListenOutdoor Sculptures
Artist: Marcel Baettig
Location: In front of the mansion South Hill Park
Date: 1995
Marcel Baettig completed an artistic residency at South Hill Park from 1993-1995. Bull, now is situated at the front of the mansion, was a part of his end of residency show.
Baettig’s work plays with movement, volume and scale. Using linear structures and metal configuration, the artist explores the three-dimensionality of space. This often creates an illusion of a specific moment in time. For Baettig, animals reconstruct ‘a new iconography that is not subjugated by a male history’. The use of animal terms such as ‘bull’ and ‘stag’ refer to masculine words within the context of modern society. Baettig explores the understandings of these words against their female counterparts such as ‘deer’ and ‘cow’. For Baettig, this contextual lexis in the humanisation of animals is a key tool for a deeper understanding of himself and the mankind.
Marcel Baettig trained as a sculptor and had a successful early career exhibiting and undertaking commissions before establishing the Bow Arts Trust in 1994. In 1998 Baettig established the Bow Arts Trust Education Project and Nunnery Gallery. This project trains and supports artists to work in schools and is now one of the largest independent resources in London, helping over 25,000 young people every year, who live in some of the poorest and most socially deprived areas of London.
Artist: Robert Carruthers
Location: The Italian Gardens
Date: c. 1986-88
Robert Carruthers is a distinguished sculptor who is one of the last great sculptors of the Henry Moore generation. He both studied and taught at the Royal College of Art. Carruthers worked with Epstein, and won the Prix de Rome and travelling scholarships to France, Italy and Greece. He has had one man shows at the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, and the Serpentine Gallery and has had work commissioned by the Stuyvesant Foundation, Portsmouth City, Swindon for the Millennium and of course, South Hill Park.
Artist: Barry Mason
Location: By the lake
Date: 1980
Medium: Hard wood and iron on turfed slope
Dimensions: Pyramid base 400cm. The angle 360cm.
At this time, pursuing an interest in landscape, the works were monumental constructions of timber and steel and often incorporated earthworks. (B. Mason)
For Barry Mason, the idea behind a sculpture is paramount - the methods and materials chosen to express the idea should be the best available. Gravity XII consists of two pyramids, one inverted and held apart by chain. The sculpture develops own space, proposing a dialogue between its constructed presence and the surrounding landscape of trees and other greenery.
In the 1980s, Mason began to use stone as his primary material rather than wood. At the end of the decade Mason was shortlisted for a major water sculpture project in Birmingham. Although not winning the competition, the experience of experimenting with water and stone took his work in a new direction. For most of the 90’s water became a primary element and the range of materials used expanded to include copper, bronze and stainless steel.
There were also design collaborations with architects, landscape architects and structural engineers, which led to a series of realised and unrealised projects. Sculptures shown in award winning gardens at Chelsea Flower Show led to a series of national and international commissions which are ongoing. Public commissions have included Half Moon for Eton College and Vessica which stands outside the Hiscox building in the City of London.
Artist: John Clarke
Location: By the lake
Date: 1976
Medium: Hard word, metal and concrete
Dimensions: 450cm
Artist: William Pye
Location: In the lake
Date: 1982
Medium: Brick, clay, lead
Dimensions: 240cm
This piece represents a breakdown from Pye’s predominantly metal constructions. It is a simple wall, but ‘a wall where shadows fall in surprising ways and where appearances are deceptive’. Pye is inspired by the use of brick as an integral part of most gardens, including the backdrop for flowers and shrubs. Therefore, brink is a natural material for this sculpture.
William Pye was born in London in 1938 and studied at Wimbledon School of Art (1958-61) and the Sculpture School of the Royal College of Art (1961-65). He is famous for his sculptures using metals, stone and, above all, water. His sculptures of the 1960s were abstract forms showing a preference for the traditional materials of metal and stone. Pye has undertaken many major commissions in the past fifteen years, including Slip Stream and Jet Stream water sculptures at Gatwick Airport's North Terminal (1987). Another commission was Aquarena (2000) for the new Millennium Square in Bristol. Numerous exhibitions of William Pye's sculptures have been held in Britain and abroad since his first solo show at the Redfern Gallery, London, in 1966. He has been the recipient of many awards, most recently being elected Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (1993).
Indoor Work
Artist: Antony Donaldson
Location: Wilde Theatre foyer ceiling South Hill Park Mansion
Date: 1979/81
Medium: Fibreglass and mixed media
Dimensions: 45.7 x 167.7 x 40.7 cm
Donaldson’s Balance is associated with the British Pop Art movement. The woman in Balance is a generalized figure, not a specific individual. She embodies the pleasure, leisure and relaxation finally found after years of post war austerity in Britain.
Pop Art explored the relationship between society and industrialisation and the development of mass communication such as TV, cinema, advertising and colour printing. Pop art was targeted for the masses, questioning art as an exclusive activity of the elite.
Anthony Donaldson (b. 1936) graduated from the Slade Art School, London (1958-62). His work is part of several private and public collections in Sydney, Australia, Portugal, Brazil, London, the Netherlands and Germany.
For more information visit www.antonydonaldson.com
Artist: Michael Anderson
Location: Wilde Foyer Balconies and Dance Studio South Hill Park Mansion
Date: 1983
Medium: Oil on board
Michael Anderson joined South Hill Park as a resident artist in April 1983. Midsummer Night’s Dream is a series of 27 oil paintings, painted during his three-years residency. It depicts Shakespeare’s play, responding to a community production of the play that was performed in the grounds during the summer of 1983. Anderson used to observe many rehearsals, classes and other events at South Hill Park, producing also an extensive series of notes and sketches.
Anderson’s work combines a realistic quality with highly stylised thick outlines and heavy shapes. Many of the figures in the series portray the actors and players of South Hill Park in the 1980s. Ron McAllister, the Executive Director of South Hill Park, then the Musical Director, can be seen in the series along with Gavin Henderson, the Executive Director at the time, who is portrayed playing the trumpet.
Artist: Martin Donlin
Location: Studio courtyard South Hill Park Mansion
Date: 2005
Medium: Stained glass
Dimensions: 1.6 x 9 metres
Created as part of the major refurbishment project at South Hill Park, this coloured window uses antique glass that is acid etched and bonded to toughened safety glass. The design is based on the abstracted image of a seed – a metaphor for the beginning of an idea.
Martin Donlin is a UK based artist, known for creating public art pieces. The images, texts and composition he uses always relate directly to the space he is designing for. The result is always art, which is inextricably linked to the history, culture and purpose of its surroundings.
Artist: Martin Donlin
Architects: Allies and Morrison
Location: The Tall Hall South Hill Park Mansion
Date: 2005
Medium: Laminated 20 mm toughened glass
Dimensions: 3.5 x 2.2 metres
Dedicated to the memory of the life and work of Dominic Barber, Director of Theatre Productions at South Hill Park 1984-1994.
Martin Donlin is a UK based artist, known for creating public art pieces. Donlin’s images, texts and composition are site specific. The result is always art, which is inextricably linked to the history, culture and purpose of its surroundings.
The text of ‘Afterlife’ is by Poet Laureate, Andrew Motion.
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