ONE of the art world’s most controversial sculptures goes on display in Huddersfield tomorrow.
The Tate “bricks” will be put on display at the Huddersfield Art Gallery.
And special precautions are being taken to get the work right.
A Kirklees Museums and Galleries spokesman said: “The bricks are carefully transported in purpose built crates, each brick is individually packed in its own compartment for protection.
“The work is then reassembled at the gallery by a member of staff from the Tate Gallery.
“Created in 1966, Equivalent VIII is the last in a series of eight sculptures each comprising of a different rectangular arrangement of 120 firebricks.
“There is a formula to assembling to the artwork – Equivalent VIII’s 120 firebricks are arranged on the floor in two oblong layers of 60 bricks with each layer comprising of six bricks widthways and 10 bricks lengthways.”
It is on loan from the Tate Gallery and the centrepiece of an eight-week exhibition called Fields of Contention.
Carl Andre’s sculpture, Equivalent VIII, was bought by the Tate in 1972, and is an arrangement of 120 fire bricks. It attracted widespread media criticism when it first went on display in 1976, simply described by many as a ‘pile of bricks’.
Clr Jean Calvert said: “This sculpture is well-known for the huge stir it caused back in the seventies and because of that, people still flock to see what all the fuss was about.
“That we’re able to have it on display here in Huddersfield is a great accolade for the town, and I hope as many of our residents as possible take the opportunity to come and have a look for themselves.”
The exhibition, Fields of Contention, runs until November 12 and is part of Art in Yorkshire – a year-long celebration of art in various venues across Yorkshire, supported by the Tate.
