A new dimension as Wilfred Cass opens gates at Goodwood sculpture park
Someone said to Wilfred Cass the other day 'You've really done it now'. Wilfred, founder and guiding light of the Cass Sculpture Foundation at Goodwood, was inclined to agree.
As he prepares for his 15th season since opening, Wilfred can reflect on the fact that the foundation is well on the way towards becoming one of the world's key centres for sculpture.
Wilfred is quick to stress that there is still a long way to go, certainly in terms of local recognition, but the foundation is firmly established on the international scene... so much so that it is a key mover in ensuring that sculpture will also get a share of the limelight when London goes Olympic crazy in 2012.
The year will be the 20th anniversary of the foundation's inception - a landmark Wilfred is keen to exploit when the worldwide glare falls on the UK in three years time.
"It gives us a big opportunity. I don't think anyone else is coming up with sculpture for London in this current climate, but for 2011 we will be showing our Olympic programme.
"The idea is to put 40 to 50 pieces into London Olympic sites on a lending basis. They wouldn't want them forever and you wouldn't get planning permission."
Instead, Wilfred will be transferring the pieces to the capital, probably mostly at the last minute, after West Sussex gets the chance to see them first.
"We will be showing them in exhibition in 2011 for all the great and the good to see at Goodwood. We are commissioning about 20 large pieces a year so it's really only double the programme that we have already.
"It will be our view of what is the best of British and some international sculpture. The Olympic sites will be quite small but the number of visitors to London will be enormous."
And Wilfred is confident they will have a treat awaiting them.
"The quality of British sculpture is just amazing. It has come out of a history of people like Moore and Hepworth who also taught sculpture, and that's now coming through a generation or two later. The people that they taught are now budding sculptors. I also think that as a race we are very very visual, very three-dimensional."
It's the foundation's great achievement that it is now so well placed to mastermind the Olympic celebration:
"We are certainly getting an international reputation. Our website is getting nearly a couple of thousand hits a day, and with the new building that we have got, we can offer so much including an archive.
"Everything takes time, but we will become one of the major things in world sculpture, a name like the Tate."
As for the new season, which opens on April 4, it will be a chance for visitors to see in action another new strand to the Cass Sculpture Foundation.
With the recession, people aren't buying large-scale sculpture. In response, Wilfred is setting up a new lending programme, developed to give lessees freedom and flexibility from the commitment of commissioning monumental sculpture or having to buy it outright.
The idea behind the new lending programme is that individuals, local authorities and developers will have the chance to display temporarily the best established and emerging sculptors around.
Thousands of catalogues are being sent out around the world. Visitors to the Goodwood site this summer will be able to see the pieces before they are snapped up.
And for Wilfred, that will work well.
"It means it will accelerate the change at Goodwood. The idea has always been that you should come every year and see something different because there will have been lots of changes, but this will accelerate that change now."
A capital idea
They may have a peaceful home now, but sculpture from Goodwood are destined for bustling sites such as Wembley Stadium and King's Cross Station in 2012.
And over the next three years, 40-50 pieces will be commissioned by the Cass Sculpture Foundation from esteemed artists such as Steven Gregory, Tim Morgan, Tony Cragg and Phillip King, to also place around the capital for the Olympics.
Wilfred Cass and his wife Jeannette have invested 11m in this ground-breaking initiative, which has been praised by the Government.
"Congratulations to the Cass Sculpture Foundation for taking the initiative to commission sculptures now in anticipation of 2012. I look forward to seeing the works and I am happy to pay tribute to the remarkable vision of Wilfred and Jeannette Cass," said The Right Hon Tessa Jowell, Minister for the Olympics.
The works - new for 2009
If you haven't yet experienced the Goodwood Sculpture Estate, you are in for a treat.
Some nestling amid woodland, some making a grand statement to a majestic downland backdrop, the 80 or so large-scale, three dimensional works of art will be sure to intrigue and excite.
The 24 acres of unspoil ancient woodland are the perfect - and magical - setting for the best in outdoor sculpture.
And there has been much landscaping carried out for this season, opening up the woodland's dark canopies.
Even if you have visited before you will see many pieces in different positions, and there are great new works to marvel at, including these.
Fallen Deodar (Jilly Sutton 2009 Bronze)
When a huge deodar, or Himalayan cedar, fell on Dartmoor, Sutton was presented with a rare sculptural challenge. She combines ancient tree imagery with the human head as the seat of the brain, in this tranquil piece.
Man Mountain (Paul Vanstone 2009 Himalayan grey Indian marble)
In Man Mountain, Vanstone harks back to the idealised male torso as portrayed by classical sculptural traditions of ancient Greece.
But I Feel Fine (Thomas Ostenberg 2008 Bronze)
A physical realisation of the indomitable human spirit, this piece, which makes reference to acrobatics and the circus, conveys a sense of hope through strength.
Seer (Alice II) (Kiki Smith 2005 Paint on bronze)
In recent years, Smith has incorporated fairy tale imagery into her work to depict dramatic female personae and alter egos. Seer (Alice II) is one in a series of works derived from Lewis Carroll's own manuscript drawings for the children's book Alice's Adventures under Ground (commonly known as Alice in Wonderland).
The Cass Sculpture Foundation is open to the public Tuesday-Sunday, 10.30am to 5pm.
To see the grounds properly, you are recommended to allow at least two hours for your visit.
Entrance fees are 10 per person. Children under five years go free when accompanied by an adult.
Children under ten years are half price. Telephone 01243 538449; email info@sculpture.org.uk. Visit www.sculpture.org.uk
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