Hepworth Prize for Sculpture exhibition to showcase work of shortlisted artists

The exhibition, opening on 26 October, will present work by the five artists – Michael Dean, Mona Hatoum, Magali Reus, Phillip Lai and Cerith Wyn Evans – shortlisted for the second iteration of the prize. All of the artists are creating new work for display in the exhibition, which runs until 20 January, 2019.

The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture recognises a British or UK-based artist of any age, at any stage in their career, who has made a significant contribution to the development of contemporary sculpture. The winner of the £30,000 biennial prize will be selected by a panel of judges and announced at an award dinner at The Hepworth Wakefield on 15 November, 2018.

"We are delighted that each of the shortlisted artists will be showing new work for The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture. We created the Prize to encourage wider engagement and debate regarding sculpture one of the most significant and rewarding visual art forms of our time," says Simon Wallis, Director of The Hepworth Wakefield. "The breadth of work that will be on display explores the distinct approach to sculpture taken by each artist and it will allow our broad audience to experience the engaging richness of this powerful art form."

Visitors to the exhibition will see the artists talking about their art in a series of newly commissioned short films, and will also be invited to share their own thoughts and choose their winner on The Hepworth Wakefield’s website.

Michael Dean’s sculptures begin with his writing, which he translates into physical form – from letter-like human-scale figures in concrete and steel reinforcement, to self-published books deployed as sculptural elements.

Mona Hatoum, whose video, performance, and sculptural projects have established her place in contemporary art, will show two new sculptures alongside significant earlier works, revealing her explorations of "contradictions and conflicts".

Phillip Lai will debut a group of new sculptures alongside his 2016 work Guest loves host in a way like no other. Using existing mass-produced objects as well as his own precisely fabricated forms, Lai’s works investigate ideas of production, consumption and hospitality.

London-based Dutch artist Magali Reus will present an installation of new sculptures alongside an architectural intervention in the gallery space. New works from Reus’ series Sentinel combine references to woven fire hoses and nozzles with more amorphous elements cast in fibreglass with metal appendages.

Welsh conceptual artist Cerith Wyn Evans will debut a major new work, comprising two intersecting arcs of glass crystal musical flutes suspended in the gallery space. Powered by two mechanical lungs that inhale and exhale according to a specially-conceived algorithm, the 40 flutes are individually pitched to perform Wyn Evans’s new composition.

The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture exhibition will open at Hepworth Wakefield on 26 October and run until 20 January, 2019. Find out more: hepworthwakefield.org.