Artist research- Yorkshire sculpture park artists

Considering our class will be visiting yorkhire sculpture park in a matter of weeks I've decided to research some artists that currently are displaying their art in the in door and outdoor exhibitions there and exploring what's good, bad, interesting, inspirational etc about them and analysing their sculptures and surroundings. The highlight this year though are a collaboration of two artists who go by the name of "The Orta's".

Lucy & Jorge Orta
The main reason I like the ortas is because of the inner meaning behind the work, instead of mindlessly creating random but beautiful structures they explore some of the worlds most pressing issues such as recycling, poverty and historical and natural disasters. These artists are inspired by their round the world trips to various destinations across the globe exploring for new material for their art.

I really like this sculpture and feel as though it would be even more impressive when I see it for real due to the over all size of it (180x80x80cm on arch plinth 130m high) which is a considerably large piece. This particular piece is from a very contemporary series of figurative sculptures and are inspired by stories of mythical spirits of a river that runs from the Provence mountains to the ancient sea ports of Marseille in France where they stayed to research the spiritual culture of these places. 5 of them are permanantly sited in various areas around the port/river. Obviously this sculpture will be more interesting when we physicaly see it and I'll have more to write about but from the images I've seen I like the different reflective surfaces and the attention to detail in the form of the human body. I like the shape of the body it almost seems like it's moving because of the over all motion and the relaxing pose as though she's frozen in time in the middle of performing some sort of spiritual dance which I think is lovely and really portrays the emotion and relaxing spirit and nature of the Huveaune valley that the Orta's have clearly inspirationally tried to capture.

Although this sculpture is not in England right now and is in fact permanantly based in France mainly in Marseille I had to put this in my research because I think it is simply beautiful. I love the location and I believe it plays a huge part in the effect the sculpture has on us emotionally because of the surrounding imagery and is a huge part of the sculpture itself because different surroundings cause different effects and atmospheres upon the observer. I love the innocence of the girl in the image, the pose and the way the light reflects off the surface of the dress compared to the dull matt colour of the skin and hair. The creases in the dress and shape causes a realistic visualisation of the movement that would occur if she wasn't inanimate which is a very difficult thing to achieve when sculpture is concerned. I really appreciate the effort and time that has gone into it and I think this is a great example of contemporary figurative sculpture.
Further information on this piece: Dimensions 160x50x50cm, Materials used: aluminium and epoxy paint.
Exhibition history: La Martelliere, Saint-Zacharie, Marseille, France.

These are considerably different from the previous sculptures and Lucy Orta claimed in an interview she was going for a more "organic" structure. The research behind it was based on a village surrounded by poverty and inspiration came from people who had built their houses upon mountains of plastic bottles and other rubbish. They both then collected bottles and began adding to the two chairs which were originally meant for another sculpture. This series of sculptures are based on the movements of water but they both refer to these organic shapes as "clouds" which I think fit the structures better. I like how the clouds seem to have a mind of their own and almost seem to be climbing and enveloping the different objects (chairs, ladders, life rafts) which I think looks brilliant. Overall I like these different organic sculptures and their bright vibrant colours (blue, red, silver etc) and I admire the inspiration behind them and believe that The Orta's have touched a vital economical issue when concerning the recycling village and all the poverty they've witnessed. I personally can't wait until I see these in person and see what sort of effect they have on me.

James Turrell

Although James Turrell is renowned as a sculptor of light and creating art instillations that enhance light visually and change the perception of light and space which is a great talent. But this piece is more of a place of tranquility and revelation and he hasn't changed the surrounding area which is stunning and very natural and preserved. It is called "The Deer Shelter" and is basically an inside space with a space in the roof that has the ability to enhance the Yorkshire sky and highlights the changes flowing across the space giving the observer a heightened vision of the sky. I think this concept is simple yet genius and definitely beautiful and can imagine that inside it is very peaceful just by looking at the images. I'm not a big fan of many of Turrell's pieces but I can't wait to go and see this for myself, I think it's a very creative.