Thinking is Making: Objects in a Space

Exhibition: 6-21 October 2023

As a form and an idea, sculpture has always wrested control from its makers. Now, not only is sculpture slippery – both within and without; vital and inert; emergent yet refusing definition – it’s also expensive to make, often requiring access to costly education, materials and space.

To mark the 20th anniversary of the Mark Tanner Sculpture Award, 'Thinking is Making: Objects in a Space’ assembled voices of leading figures of contemporary British sculpture as they examined the relationship between the object and its maker within this mediated field

Dr. Jon Wood traces the influence of sculptures and sculptors who have defined the form in recent decades. An illustrated conversation between the award’s winners from 2013 to 2023 – Lee Holden, Rosie Edwards, Dean Kenning, Olivia Bax, Anna Reading, Frances Richardson, Beth Collar, Megan Broadmeadow, Kate Lyddon and Iain Hales – illuminated the development of diverse sculptural practices, locating sculpture in a space defined by both volumes of creativity and a dearth of access.

And finally, a roundtable discussion between judges Lisa Le Feuvre, Phyllida Barlow, Hew Locke and Mike Nelson speculated on the future of the award, now entering its third decade, as it asks: Who are sculptors today? And what will they make?

Exhibition Publication

Launch of a new publication, alongside the exhibition of limited edition lithographs and sculpture from the 2013 to 2023 award winners. See Publications page.

Publication special launch price £20 (£29.95 RRP)
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