Henry Moore Institute (Leeds)

...mind by going to the Henry Moore institute (this will be a shocker for 3 on my buddy list as 'It's the arts!')

Stuck on the side of Leeds Art Gallery in the centre of Leeds is the Henry Moore (Henry who? Check out the mini bio below) institute and it's devoted exclusively to sculpture.

It was originally in the Art gallery but moved to the rather nice building next door in 1993.
The outside of the institute has ...
...of information, guides, books on Henry and other artists but when it comes to entry to the galleries you can keep your hand in your pocket as it's free.
To your left you enter the first exhibition, a display of Coppia Legata works which mostly are tall rooms painted white, with various coloured squares and poles that stand in the middle. After a couple of rooms displaying these you cross a creaky wooden bridge with glass either side, views ... more

Having found that my taxi home in the form of a lift had to work an hour late I needed something to amuse myself and pass the time.
I could have gone to any number of bars and looked sad and lonely sat with a beer for company but I decided to expand my mind by going to the Henry Moore institute (this will be a shocker for 3 on my buddy list as 'It's the arts!')

Stuck on the side of Leeds Art Gallery in the centre of Leeds is the Henry Moore (Henry who? Check out the mini bio below) institute and it's devoted exclusively to sculpture.

It was originally in the Art gallery but moved to the rather nice building next door in 1993.
The outside of the institute has excellent looking black marble slabs with just the one glass double door entrance being the only break in the 'wall'. Big stone steps take you up to the entrance but as with most big steps in city centres you have to watch out for the sk8ter dooods trying to break their legs attempting Ollies. The institute has disabled access round the corner where no steps (or dooods) are and there is a bell to ring and one of the staff will come and assist you. Also you can park here on the pay and display if you can find a space, not easy in the centre of Leeds.

Through the main glass doors you are greeted with a corridor which leads you to a reception area. Here you can purchase all manner of information, guides, books on Henry and other artists but when it comes to entry to the galleries you can keep your hand in your pocket as it's free.
To your left you enter the first exhibition, a display of Coppia Legata works which mostly are tall rooms painted white, with various coloured squares and poles that stand in the middle. After a couple of rooms displaying these you cross a creaky wooden bridge with glass either side, views of the Courtyard pub to your right and the war memorial left, to walk down a set of stairs (lifts are in place throughout for the disabled) to grey carpeted area with lower ceilings and smaller sculptures.

On the white walls are glass boxes housing the displays and an interactive work from Marcel Duchamp. This has a series of coloured discs which spin when the button to the right is pressed and the work is an representation of 'into space', stare at the discs too long and you will feel sick and fall over, yes I did before you ask.
Among the displays here are Peter Peri's 'Medallion to Karl Marx', a heavy chunk of rock with Karl's face chiselled from it. Paul Nash's wood carved hands with I really liked, a piece with a great feel to it which I found before discovered the do not touch signs, whoops.
Other works displayed were Kenneth Armitage, some of Henry boy's stuff, Winslow Foot's 3 by 15 which I loved but my favourite in this part of the gallery was Gunther Uecker's. On first inspection this appears to be a dod of wood with nails banged in it but the nails are angled and with the placed lighting the cast shadows to create wonderful patterns.

In the corner you find stairs, down these to arrive in the lower section with two corridors made from glass display cabinets with busts, figures and works from the artist Jacob Epstein.
Most of Jacob's work involves the human figure and face, there is a mix of beautiful forms and some shocking features in the busts.
The cabinet opposite are Andy Goldsworthy's works which are his Leaf sculptures and have a delicate look to them, I imagine these were painstakingly constructed.

Through another archway you arrive in a room with high ceiling where you find pictures and symmetrical drawings added with books open at selected pages with further straight line drawings. Okay if you like technical drawings and engineering plans.

Straight through the double glass doors the area opens out into a two level room and your ears are suddenly awakened to what sounds like a bowl of oil that is being splashed around.
This is a hydrophone recording which was placed under the water of the river Aire in Leeds dark arches by the artist Bill Fontana. Bill did some more of his musical sculptures in Leeds including microphones in the town hall clock but the river was the only one you could hear.

Moving down the stairs to the lower level tiled floor you find the exhibition of sculpture in the 20th century.
Round the perimeter of the room is a time line of the biggest works of the 20th century but I only gave this a quick scan over as to read it all you need to give yourself and hour or so. The most prominent sculpture in the room is a huge cone divided into various sections allowing you to look through it and this is Stephen Cox's beauty of shapes. Henry makes another guest appearance with 'Dancing figure', a life sized statue of a nude man in a dancing pose which he did around 1919-1920.
Jacob Epstein's larger piece is here with his adaptation of 'Maternity'. This is a 6ft plus statue of a pregnant woman (naturally) with an odd expression on her face; maybe this is to dictate the mysterious feelings and wonderment of pregnancy? Who knows? Being a bloke I can't really comment.
Tucked away in the corner are a small set of stairs that lead you down to the Craft Centre & Design Gallery where you can purchase prints, pottery, jewellery, glass and textiles.

Back upstairs you can enter the Leeds Art Gallery from here or leave the building; you are also able to enter the gallery from the other side of the Moore institute (near the room with the glass display cabinets) and the gallery boasts that it has 'One of the most outstanding collections of British 20th Century art outside London'.

I found the Henry Moore institute an excellent place to view art in the heart of Leeds, should you need to research studies into the pieces they have an archive and a library.
The only downsides are that some of the pieces weren't on display and have a note in their place to tell you who it's on loan to. The layout of the building can be somewhat confusing as you can easily wonder into the adjoining Art Gallery.

Spend an hour (as I did and managed to view everything) or spend several walking at a slow pace to absorb everything. There are the usual security guards on hand to make you don't nick owt but are a friendly bunch and always welcome you into each area.

The exhibits are semi-permanent so a visit in a couple of months will have something new to view.

There is no photography or video is allowed in the Institute which is why my pics are of the entrance and one of Henry's sculptures placed outside the Art gallery.

The Institute is open daily 10am - 5pm and late night Wed till 8pm, closed on bank holidays. Easy to find when in Leeds as many an information post directs you and there is plenty of parking in the city multi-stories.

74 The Headrow
Leeds
LS1 3AH

01132467467
www.henry-moore-fdn.co.uk

Quick Biography;
Henry Moore was born ooop north in Castleford 1898 and before he decided to close his coffin lid in 1986 he had become one of the most celebrated modernist sculptors of his time.

Moore, the 7th child of a mine manger, both his parents was supportive and by all accounts his childhood was a happy one. First he had a crack at teaching but that was soon put to a stop as the Germans wanted a fight and called it WW1. Poor Henry got gassed at Cambrai but made a full recovery to finish the war a training instructor.

After the war he arrived at Leeds School of Art and enrolled using his ex-service man's grant for funding. Here he began to show his promise which won him a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in London and he made the most of the opportunity.
Around this time he travelled to Italy and France (only to be gassed by the sewers this time) and on his return to London he was offered the post of Assistant in the Sculpture department at the Royal College of Art.

Moore married Russian totty Irma Radetzsky in 1929 and bought a small house in Kent where he could work and he started his exhibitions in this year.
He became a controversial figure in the art world and next he moved onto the Chelsea School of Art in 1932, his work was shown at the International Exhibition of Surrealism Art in London.

The Germans kicked off again with war part 2 and Henry began to draw images of people sheltering in the underground during the blitz. These were noticed by the War Artists Advisory Committee and Henry was commissioned by them to do larger pieces, when the drawings were shown in the early 40's Moore began to acquire public attraction.

His studio was lost in the blitz, he moved to Hertfordshire and continued his war art there but returned to sculpture in the mid 40's. By 1946 he had knocked out a daughter and this was also the year that Moore's public reputation would grow, his work was being shown in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and then to Australia. He was now an international artist.

Through the 50's and 60's he was being offered commissions for bigger and bigger pieces of his work as his popularity grew and he kept producing work at a steady pace.

He was loaded with honours and his work remained in demand until he curled up his toes. His work continues to fetch high prices at auctions today, oh yeah; he has an institute named after him in Leeds!
 

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