Exhibition

This exhibition, which has garnered rave reviews across the country after visits to Wakefield, Edinburgh and St Ives, will display some of Hepworth’s most celebrated sculptures including the modern abstract carving that launched her career in the 1920s and 1930s, her iconic strung sculptures of the 1940s and 1950s, and large-scale bronze and carved sculptures from later in her career. Key loans from national public collections will be shown alongside works from private collections that have not been on public display since the 1970s, and rarely seen drawings, paintings and fabric designs. The exhibition will be themed around Hepworth's broader cultural interests in music, dance, theatre, politics and literature, exploring these and encouraging new interpretations and presentations of her work. 

The exhibition will open with an introduction to Barbara Hepworth’s work, showing the three sculptural forms she returned to repeatedly throughout her career using a variety of different materials. Though abstract, these forms reveal Hepworth’s enduring ability to express essential human experiences, from interpersonal relationships to our connection to the world around us. A detailed look at Hepworth’s childhood in Yorkshire through archive material and photographs will include some of the artist’s earliest known paintings, carvings and life drawings as she began to explore movement and the human form. The exhibition will also explore Hepworth’s passion for dance, and how she captured movement with gestural paintings and sculptures such as Forms in Movement (Galliard) and Curved Form (Pavan), contextualising her move to creating sculptures in metal in the 1950s.

Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life at Towner Eastbourne will culminate with a section looking at Hepworth’s interest in science and technology, from the bold geometric abstract drawings and sculptures made in the 1930s and her friendship with physicist J D Bernal, through to her iconic Hospital Drawings of the 1940s, and her fascination with the Space Race in the 1960s. A group of works will be brought together to reveal the influence of this decade of space exploration on Hepworth, from Disc with Strings (Moon), 1969, made the year Neil Armstrong landed on the moon, to Four Hemispheres, inspired by the Telstar satellite. Hepworth noted at the end of the decade, ‘Man’s discovery of flight has radically altered the shape of our sculpture, just as it has altered our thinking.’ With all these works, Hepworth married her interest in science with a deep spirituality, which will also be explored through the exhibition. In these works, and many others throughout her career, Hepworth connected the local with the universal, and challenged the boundaries of modern sculpture in ways that continue to reverberate today.

Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life is organised by The Hepworth Wakefield in collaboration with the National Galleries of Scotland (Edinburgh), Tate St Ives and Towner Eastbourne.

Please note:

· All tickets are valid for the date specified. It is your responsibility to check your tickets as mistakes cannot always be rectified.

·  Tickets cannot be exchanged or refunded nor can we guarantee re-admission.

See full Terms & Conditions here.

If you are visiting the exhibition, you can download a large print copy of the wall texts. You can also access printed guides in the gallery by asking a member of staff at the exhibition entrance.

Ask one of our Front of House team about our summer 2023 Activity Kit Bags, which include a small sketchbook, pencils, sensory materials and a printout of this Activity sheet, which you can also download below:

Did you know that Towner Members get unlimited free entry to our ticketed shows? Join from £35 a year.

Travelling to Eastbourne by train? Please plan your journey and book tickets without any booking fees via Southern Railway. More info can be found on our Visit page.

Looking for places to stay in Eastbourne? Towner has a number of special offers with our local partners offering discounts off roos. Please go to our Visit section for more information.

Towner strives to host inclusive, accessible exhibitions. If you have any questions, please talk to a member of staff or contact us on towner@townereastbourne.org.uk 

○ There are two sets of large, heavy glass doors leading into and out of the exhibition.

○ The artworks in this exhibition should not be touched.

○ There are several works in glass cases and vitrines from table to waist height.

○ The reading level of the wall text and labels is 10+ years.

○ Large print guides are available.

○ Audio guides are not available.

○ Braille guides are not available.

○ Easy Read guides are not available

○ Noise levels are generally low but may be louder when busy.

○ All spaces are scent-free.

○ Flooring is resin concrete.

○ The galleries are busiest between 11.00am and 2.00pm.

○ No seating is available in the space. Portable seating is available on request.

○ Ear plugs, ear defenders, magnifying glasses, and wheelchairs are available.

○ A quiet relaxed space with low lighting is available in Ravilious Gallery and Collection Library on the first floor.

○ A gender-neutral, wheelchair-accessible bathroom can be found on the ground floor.

○ Comfortable space for service animals to rest can be found in the ground floor foyer; with watering facilities available in the nearby cafe.