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Viewing On Happiness, Wellcome Collection

The Wick Culture - Joy Inside Our Tears, 2021, Harold Offeh

Above Joy Inside Our Tears, 2021, Harold Offeh

The Wick Culture - David Shrigley, Untitled, 2020, ink on paper. Courtesy David Shrigley and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London

Above David Shrigley, Untitled, 2020, ink on paper. Courtesy David Shrigley and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London

The Wick Culture - Regarding Forests Hoh Rain Forest 3 Olympic National Park 2019. Chrystel Lebas

Above Regarding Forests Hoh Rain Forest 3 Olympic National Park 2019. Chrystel Lebas

The Wick Culture - English folding almanac in Latin, c.1415-1420. Wellcome Collection

Above English folding almanac in Latin, c.1415-1420. Wellcome Collection

Above Joy Inside Our Tears, 2021, Harold Offeh

Above David Shrigley, Untitled, 2020, ink on paper. Courtesy David Shrigley and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London

Above Regarding Forests Hoh Rain Forest 3 Olympic National Park 2019. Chrystel Lebas

Above English folding almanac in Latin, c.1415-1420. Wellcome Collection

On Happiness
Wellcome Collection
15 July 2021 — 27 February 2022

What is happiness? What makes you feel good? How can you create happy feelings? These complex questions are the subject of a new season of free events, activities and exhibitions at London’s Wellcome Collection.

After a year of rising levels of anxiety, depression, stress and uncertainty, this new programme asks how we might rebuild our sense of happiness, while reflecting on the connections between these complex emotions, our bodies and health. It will also explore the ways in which people find resilience, hope and joy in times of hardship.

The two free exhibitions — Tranquillity and Joy — bring together voices from across the cultural, scientific and spiritual fields to explore happiness in all its forms. Tranquillity centres on feelings of contentment, serenity, peace and balance, while Joy looks at heightened emotional states such as ecstasy, euphoria and pleasure.

You’ll encounter historic objects from Wellcome’s collection, newly commissioned works and multi-sensory installations. Relax in a yoga studio created by Jasleen Kaur before scoping out new works by Amalia Pica and David Shrigley which address themes of resilience, humour and hope. For a deeper dive, plug into Wellcome’s five-part podcast series exploring how emotion affects our lives and culture in unexpected ways. After such a rollercoaster year, On Happiness is sure to put a smile on your face. Need we say more?

Viewing Karla Black: sculptures (2001-2021) – details for a retrospective

The Wick Culture - Installation view of ‘Karla Black: sculptures 2001–2021’, in the new warehouse space at Fruitmarket, Edinburgh, 2021. Photo: Tom Nolan

Above Installation view of ‘Karla Black: sculptures 2001–2021’, in the new warehouse space at Fruitmarket, Edinburgh, 2021. Photo: Tom Nolan

Karla Black: sculptures (2001-2021) – details for a retrospective
Fruitmarket
7 July – 24 October 2021

Following a year of virtual walkthroughs and screen-scrolling through art, Karla Black’s latest exhibition at the Fruitmarket is a revelation. A reminder of the power of immersive exhibitions and of physical engagement of art, sculptures (2001-2021): details for a retrospective brings together two decades’ worth of work – many of them specially designed for Fruitmarket, the exhibition space in Edinburgh that takes the artist back to her native Scotland.

Black is a radical experimenter. From her use of colours to the state of her sculptures – whether hanging, spreading, hovering or sitting – her work is innovative and shifting. Her use of materials is just as diverse, spanning cardboard, sugar paper, polystyrene, gels, and even cleaning products. The one constant is the viewer: her art needs to be seen and walked amongst, and Black acknowledges and embraces the audience as the key protagonist of her work.

One of the key pieces of the show is Waiver for Shade (2021), which responds fabulously to the dark and industrial nature of Fruitmarket. The work is a product of the intuitive and physical capabilities of Black’s body. Determined by the extent of her reach, the strength of her throw, her impulsive use of materials in the present moment, it is a product of raw creativity – a welcome and overdue celebration of art experienced IRL.

Viewing Rachel Kneebone, ‘399 Days’, Yorkshire Sculpture Park

The Wick Culture - Rachel Kneebone, 399 Days, 2012-13. Courtesy European Collection. Photo © Stephen White, courtesy White Cube.

Above Rachel Kneebone, 399 Days, 2012-13. Courtesy European Collection. Photo © Stephen White, courtesy White Cube.

The Wick Culture - Rachel Kneebone, 399 Days, 2012-13, (detail). Courtesy European Collection. Photo © Stephen White, courtesy White Cube.

Above Rachel Kneebone, 399 Days, 2012-13, (detail). Courtesy European Collection. Photo © Stephen White, courtesy White Cube.

Above Rachel Kneebone, 399 Days, 2012-13. Courtesy European Collection. Photo © Stephen White, courtesy White Cube.

Above Rachel Kneebone, 399 Days, 2012-13, (detail). Courtesy European Collection. Photo © Stephen White, courtesy White Cube.

Rachel Kneebone, 399 Days
Chapel, Yorkshire Sculpture Park
10 July 2021 – 24 April 2022

Known for her intensely rich and complex porcelain sculptures, to describe Rachel Kneebone’s ‘399 Days’ as her most ambitious work to date is quite an accolade. Named after the length of time it took to make, this contemporary masterpiece is over five-metres in height and comprises 63 exterior panels, balancing exquisite detail with monumental scale – a characteristic feature of the artist’s work.

Now on display in Yorkshire Sculpture Park’s 18th-century chapel, this unique setting brings the serene grandeur of Kneebone’s sculpture to life. Her work alludes the human body in intricate and often fragmented detail, often depicting limbs alongside floral and orb shapes that unravel the human experience. The towering size of 399 Days – handmade by the artist, itself a reminder of our physical strengths and capabilities – invites us to consider what it means to inhabit a body.

What makes Kneebone’s work so compelling, particularly in this space, are the imperfections and unpredictabilities that result from the firing process. ‘I am quite reassured when a work explodes because I think that means I am pushing the boundaries of the material,’ says Kneebone. ‘My work moves around metamorphosis, change and simultaneous states, so nothing about it is fixed.’ 399 Days has been widely exhibited, but its latest appearance at Yorkshire Sculpture Park is a reminder of its shifting, expansive nature.