Naomi Rees from the Leeds Art Gallery with the exhibition Arp: The Plasters, a number of plaster sculptures by French-German sculptor, painter and poet Jean Arp on display at the gallery until October 4. Picture: Tony Johnson.
Published 8th Jun 2026, 16:45 BST
Three exhibitions are already up and running with a fourth on its way later this month. Jean Arp: The Plasters showcases plaster sculptures by the influential French-German sculptor Jean (Hans) Arp (1886-1966). “At the end of 2024 we acquired a group of ten Arp plaster sculptures, gifted by the Stiftung Arp, e.V foundation,” says Jane Bhoyroo, Principal Keeper at Leeds Art Gallery. “We wanted to showcase the works and also celebrate our collection.” The plaster works are on display alongside a group of Arp sculptors gifted to the Hepworth Wakefield. “We are the only two institutions in the country to have been gifted Arp sculptures,” says Bhoyroo. “We are incredibly proud and thrilled about that.” The exhibition marks the first time that many of the works have been displayed in their new home, highlighting Yorkshire’s growing reputation as an international centre for sculptural excellence.
Also on display with the Arp sculptures are works from the Leeds collection by his contemporaries including Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Alexander Calder and Paule Vézelay. “Both Moore and Hepworth admired and were influenced by Arp,” says Dr Clare Nadal, Assistant Curator, Sculpture, Leeds Museums and Galleries. “Hepworth visited Arp’s studio in the 1930s and wrote about it. It is significant because at that point she didn’t like plaster but after the visit she was clearly inspired and wrote about the poetic idea within the works and the way in which Arp used landscape and the human figure.”
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Arp in his studio, Clamart 1961/62. Photograph by André Morain, courtesy Stiftung Arp e.V.
In the gallery’s beautiful, light and airy Central Court space is a new site-specific installation Unearthing(s) by contemporary Doncaster-born, London-based artist, composer and multi-instrumentalist Hannah Catherine Jones. A partnership commission between Leeds Art Gallery and arts organization Yorkshire Contemporary, it is Jones’ first exhibition in her home county and her largest solo show to date. Unearthing(s), an innovative, immersive sculptural and sound work, explores themes of identity, bereavement and regeneration, drawing on Jones’ own family history and her experience of growing up in Yorkshire’s Caribbean diaspora. “We love working in partnership at Leeds Art Gallery and we have really enjoyed collaborating on this with Yorkshire Contemporary,” says Bhoyroo. “It is important to us to support local artists. The work responds so beautifully to the space and invites visitors to sit and reflect.”
Garth Evans: The Anti-Virus Sculptures, curated by Sam Cornish, is a display of over 30 small-scale plaster sculptures created by Evans at his home in Connecticut during the first Covid lockdown. The British-born artist who moved to the US in 1979 has said that he made the sculptures out of a desire to protect himself and the world from the impact of the pandemic. Each piece has its own playful personality and they have been named by Evans with a hint of mischievousness. “This is an ongoing project for Garth – there are now over 200 works and they all have one-word titles such as Conflict, Remorse, Surprise, Baggage,” says Bhoyroo. “He would like two of the works to be named in Leeds, so we are asking visitors to make suggestions and towards the end of the show’s run Garth will make a choice.” Now aged 91, Evans is still working and travelled to Leeds to oversee the installation of the exhibition.
Coming later this month is The Dinner Party featuring paintings by Matthew Smith and sculptures by Jacob Epstein, as well as the work of contemporary artist Olivia Bax. The show revisits a pioneering exhibition organized during the Second World War by Philip Hendy, a former director of Leeds Art Gallery, at Temple Newsam House when the city gallery was closed. “We are really excited to see Bax’s vibrant sculptures and assemblages in dialogue with the historical works,” says Nadal.
Presented together the four exhibitions are an opportunity to see a wide range of striking sculptural works of different eras. “We hope visitors will enjoy the programme,” says Bhoyroo. “They can experience historically groundbreaking work from our collection alongside enthralling sculptures by contemporary artists presented in Leeds for the first time.”
Garth Evans, Hatch (2023), Hydrocal plaster. Courtesy the artist.
Unearthing(s): Hannah Catherine Jones is at Leeds Art Gallery until August 30. Arp: The Plasters, and Garth Evans: The Anti-Virus Sculptures run until October 4. The Dinner Party opens June 26 and runs until February 6, 2027.
