Richard Long Exhibition

It has been a while since I have used this blog due to a busy year of A Levels and University preparation. However, with that aside I have now come back to using this blog as a way to show recent places that I have visited and pieces of work that I have created (upcoming blog posts to come). This post is from when I visited Houghton Hall in Norfolk in the Summer of 2017 to explore the work of Turner Prize winner, Richard Long in his "Earth and Sky" exhibition. 

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This exhibition was especially fascinating due to the different medias Richard Long used to create his conceptual land art. His sculptures contain a variety of materials of local carr stone, flint and trees from the Estate and Cornish slate.

This sculpture is known as the "Houghton Cross" made out of jagged slates in the shape of a cross. The display of slate almost looks effortlessly, but on a second look you can see how Long has meticulously placed the slate in order to create such a breath-taking piece of art.

These abstract paintings are placed outside the hall itself. Long used scaffolding to set himself at the height he wanted before pouring white paint onto a black background. The concept of these pieces, even though they look like just paint splatters, also gives an abstract outlook to Art itself and therefore showing that Art is what the artist makes it to be.

This piece is known as the "Line in Norfolk". Again, another cleverly thought out piece of Long's, since from wherever you stand you get the impression that the sculpture extends or stretches towards the Hall's neoclassical Western facade architecture. This sculpture is eighty-four metres in length and is made from densely packed chunks of Norfolk carrstone, a sedimetary sandstone. The colour of the carrstone elevates the sculpture from the emerald grounds giving it a more of a 3D effect.

As well as sculptures surrounding the grounds of Houghton Hall, there were also sculptures and paintings inside the hall. The picture above shows another stone cross which precisely marks the North South East West, which is also the title of this sculpture. Enclosed in the circle of rugged local flint, portrays a compass cross which sits on the elegant floors of the hall. The use of flint and stone creates a contrast which emphasises the compass in the centre of the piece.

This next collection of Long's pieces were also inside the hall. They consist of his primeval fascination with nature and mark making, created on various shaped backgrounds.

The regular patterns created by finger and hand prints, gives off the impression of a unified society through the representation of fingerprints. The use of human features gives a more personal touch to his work, yet still continuing to convey his abstract style.

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Visting and observing the work of Richard Long at Houghton Hall has inspired me greatly to explore more abstract styles of Art work and medias. Even though the exhibition was last year, some of his pieces are still around the grounds of Houghton Hall and definitely worth taking a look at, as well as visiting the fantastic grounds surrounding the hall.