Major works by the celebrated British sculptor Tony Cragg will go on show in the grounds and historic interiors of Houghton Hall in Norfolk. The exhibition, curated by the artist himself, will include large-scale bronze and steel sculptures sited in the gardens and grounds, and smaller pieces shown in the State rooms and gallery spaces of the house. Several new works have been made specifically for the exhibition.
Tony Cragg has been working and exhibiting since 1969. He participated in documenta 7 and 8 and represented Britain at the Biennale in Venice in 1988. He was awarded the Turner Prize in 1988, the prestigious Praemium Imperiale Award, Tokyo in 2007 and the Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award in 2017. He has lived in Wuppertal, Germany, since 1977.
He held professorships in the Akademie der Künste in Berlin and Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where he was director from 2009 to 2013. He has exhibited extensively in museums worldwide: Tate Gallery, London (1988), Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven and Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Duesseldorf (1989), Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh and Musée du Louvre, Paris (2011), Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg (2013), Von der Heydt-Museum, Wuppertal and Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg (2016) and Boboli Gardens, Florence (2019)
Lord Cholmondeley, owner of Houghton, said:
“Tony Cragg at Houghton will be the 6th contemporary art exhibition held at Houghton since 2015. I am particularly grateful to Tony for the chance to show his sculptures here in Norfolk, and for agreeing to curate the exhibition himself. I have always been a great admirer of his work, and it will be incredibly exciting to see how it will come together and interact with the historic landscape and interiors of Houghton. As life is no longer, for the moment, as we once knew it due to the challenges of COVID 19, we have been faced with some extraordinary logistical problems; not least transporting exhibits to the UK from Tony’s studio in Germany. I would especially like to thank Dorotheum and Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery for their support as this year’s exhibition sponsors.’’
Houghton Hall was built by Sir Robert Walpole, Great Britain’s first Prime Minister in around 1722. Designed by prominent Georgian architects Colen Campbell and James Gibbs, it is one of the country’s finest examples of Palladian architecture. Houghton and its estate passed to the Cholmondeley family at the end of the 18th Century and remains a family home. The house and award-winning gardens have been open to the public since 1976.
The exhibition is presented by the Houghton Arts Foundation. HAF continues to build a collection of contemporary art in the grounds of Houghton Hall, including a number of site-specific commissions. With links to colleges and public institutions across the region, the Foundation’s aim is for Houghton to become a focus for those who wish to see great art of our time in a historic setting. Tony Cragg at Houghton follows exhibitions of work by James Turrell (2015), Richard Long (2017), Damien Hirst (2018), Henry Moore (2019) and Anish Kapoor (2020).
Tony Cragg at Houghton Houghton Hall, King’s Lynn, Norfolk PE31 6UE 19th May – 26th September 2021 (selected days) Opening hours 11am – 5pm (last admission 4pm)
Exhibition tickets £18 per adult, Under 18yrs Free of Charge and Students £10 Tickets on sale 19th April All tickets must be pre-booked online: http://www.houghtonhall.com
