The Warwick Arts Centre is a fabulous facility at the very heart of the University campus. Designed by architects Renton, Howard, Wood Associates, and opened in October 1974, the building went on to win a RIBA award. It has since been a major venue for the region, attracting some 300,000 visitors a year. Unfortunately while I was a student there in 2020, much of the Centre was closed for redevelopment. 

The Arts Centre reopened to events in October 2021, to coincide with Coventry’s City of Culture year. In January 2022 the Mead Gallery re-opened with its floor area of 6,458sq ft, the largest single dedicated contemporary exhibition space in the region.

We returned to the University of Warwick last week and made time to visit the Phantom Sculpture exhibition at the Mead. The show has a collection of some of the works of the most important sculptors of today and others of the twentieth century. The exhibits have not all been present in the whole show as sculptures have arrived and disappeared at various times; hence the name! Over time that movement has created a dynamic interplay between the works – not something you would notice in a single visit, of course.

Redd Ekks, the Norwegian working in Ireland, was represented with Mr Salmon, a delightfully intricate piece with sculptured wire and salmon skin. Ekks normal work is ceramic, psychedelic figurative designs, influenced by 1960s counterculture, so this stands out and maybe more Nordic in its influence.

The audacious Sarah Lucas’s Good Thoughts – Bad Thoughts ‘playfully plays with gender class and sexuality’ as the guide describes her deconstructed female figure on an industrial waste bin. In true Young British Artists fashion this sculpture is challenging and uncomfortable, stretching erotic puns to the limits.

Rockpompom is an enjoyable work by Phyllis Barlow, hanging from the ceiling, ‘inspired by the artists childhood in post war Britain’, again the words of the guide. Austerity and memory are the ideas here and as a child of that age I fully understand the context. In a world where enjoyment was constructed and not bought, these sculptured balls of improvised, almost visceral, material hanging in space like toys is very evocative.

There are many more thought provoking sculptures here by the likes of Richard Deacon, Anthony Caro, Rachel Whiteread and a beautifully powerful minimalist piece by Kim Lim; a simple construct of marble and wood.

Those who follow my blog will of course know my love of Barbara Hepworth’s work so it was great to see her 1964 Figure (Walnut) normally on display in Coventry at the Herbert Gallery. A true gem. And of course seeing Hepworth in the educational environment reminds me of my own upbringing in Hertfordshire where that inspiring Education Authority placed art around its establishments including Barbara Hepworth sculptures (see link).

So it is also good to see that the University has its art collection spread around all the faculty buildings for students to be immersed in, and has a fine sculpture trail around the campus. Phantom Sculpture continues at The Mead Gallery, University of Warwick, until March 10th.