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International exhibition of sculptures at University of Leicester

August 10, 2004

Game of Light and Shadow with a Thousand Meanings

The University of Leicester's third international sculpture exhibition, Sculpture in the Garden, has opened bringing to the East Midlands a unique chance to see art by some of the world's leading sculptors, among them Tony Long.

A member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors, as are many of those whose work is represented at the exhibition, Long has exhibited at the Pompidou Centre and Zabriskie Gallery in Paris, and his work, often created to commission, is on show in museums and public places in France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

It is from Bern in Switzerland that the immense, but astonishingly graceful, 5-ton sculpture has been transported, to the University's Harold Martin Botanic Garden in Oadby, Leicester, where it will remain until September 2005.

The cor-ten steel "Epistrophe", was created in Switzerland during the late 1980s, following the death of Long's son under the wheels of an oncoming truck. The work first appeared in a major exhibition of Swiss sculpture near Zurich in 1989 along with those of Jean Tingueley and others. More recently, it has been exhibited in Bern for the past ten years.

The sculpture marks a change in Tony Long's style from a formal, abstract exploration of interlocking planes, to a more organic one. It has been described by Mary Vogel, who, together with Professor John Holloway, was responsible for bringing it to England, as a poem, offering a multiplicity of simultaneous meanings. Long invites the viewers to engage in play or a game in which each can explore what meanings Epistrophe holds for them. Much symbolism in the work is related to his son's death and to the artist's doubts about his continued creativity in its aftermath. The title, "Epistrophe", implies a strong repeated motion, such as that of waves or the surge of an artist's inner life.

Unlike iron, which corrodes very quickly, and galvanised steel, that remains silver, cor-ten steel rusts to a rich chocolate brown patina, which protects the underlying surface and gives the sculpture a similar life span to bronze. As the surface reacts with rain and smog, these embed in the patina and give rainbow hues, differing according to the time of day and the state of the sun. During the morning the colours will be predominantly reddish, turning to a range of purples at evening sunset. It is a play of perspective, light and shadows.

"Epistrophe" was hoisted into the University's Harold Martin Botanic Garden by a giant crane in a nearby road, lifting it high above the trees and into the space in the landscaped gardens where it will spend the next twelve months. It was assembled by a team orchestrated by Richard Green of the University of Leicester and consisting of staff at the Gardens as well as MTec Art Transport. Andy Langley, principal of Art Fabrications in Nuneaton, has overseen restoration and refreshing of the work after its trip from Switzerland.

Sculpture in the Garden is in the University of Leicester Harold Martin Botanic Garden, entrance 5 Glebe Road, Oadby, Leicester. It will run until Sunday19 September, 10 am - 4 pm daily, and is open to the public free of charge, except on days where there are other special events in the Garden.

Sculptors exhibiting in "Sculpture in the Garden" 2004: * exhibited in 2003

David Begbie, Michele Benedetto*, Maurice Blik, Helaine Blumenfeld*, James Butler, John Sydney Carter*, Jonathan Clarke, Janine Creaye, Bob Dawson*, Eppe de Haan*, Chris Dunseath, Barbara Foster, Mel Fraser*, Maria Gamundi*, Anat Golandski, Miles Halpin*, Tim Harrisson, Deirdre Hubbard*, Esther Joseph*, Tony Long, Aart Schonk*, Christine Sielcken, Andrew Smith*, Eva Steiner*, Viliano Tarabella*, Richard Thornton*.

An exhibition catalogue is available online on the website: www.le.ac.uk/sculptures/botanicgarden

Leicester, University of