06 Jul Wednesday…with ‘A Beautiful Disorder’

Last week I was invited to visit Cass Sculpture Foundation at Goodwood in West Sussex and met up with Karen ( @thislittlecorner ). Neither Karen or I had ever been before even though we both live in Sussex, and hadn’t realised what an absolutely amazing place it was…

Currently they have a fantastic new exhibition of work by Chinese Artists called ‘A Beautiful Disorder’...which is the first major exhibition of newly commissioned outdoor sculpture by contemporary Greater Chinese artists to be shown in the UK.

The grounds also have pieces from many other artists as well as a few beautifully designed buildings, so the whole experience is absolutely brilliant and really made me wish I’d known        about the place when my son was much younger as it’s a fantastic place to bring the family ( so much room to run around! )…although I’m now desperate to bring him along as a 15 year old, as it’s just the sort of thing which massively fires his imagination…

( Image above ‘Triton III’ by Bryan Kneale, 2007 )

All the sculptures are within beautiful woodland and grassed areas with gorgeous views across the countryside and you can read more about the property and grounds here 

We were taken on a tour of the new works by the Chinese artists, passing permanent pieces en route, So below is my  visual tour with links to more detailed information each piece below the images…

Below: Left to Right: ‘Bollards’ by Antony Gormley, 2001 and ‘Grand Peregrine’ and ‘Peregrine’ by Stephen Cox, 2009

A Beautiful Disorder:

Below: ‘Panorama 2’ by Wang Wei ( you can also see the artist’s models on display ) Below: ‘Bu Num Civilisation Wheel’ by Tu Wei-Cheng  I loved this piece as it really felt like a living, working installation…an excavation of a modern piece of art… ( below is the complete model of the piece which is being excavated in the grounds ) below: the artist Tu Wei-Cheng( ‘Sculpture of Thought’ by Xhao Yao was still being constructed below, as we were there before the exhibition officially opened last Sunday ) Below ‘Why Do They Never Take Colour Photos’ by Song Ta  ( below is an image of the well known sculpture of Chairman Mao seen throughout China and which in part was the inspiration for Song Ta’s new work ) Below: ‘Ghost Trap’ by Lu Pingyuan Below: ‘Identity’ by Wan Yuyang Jennifer Wen Ma’s work ‘Molar’ which was one of my favourite pieces in the new exhibition, is situated in The Foundation Centre ( which was designed by Craig Downie in 2006 ) Jennifer Wen Ma talking about her piece ‘Molar’  Below: ‘Movement’ by Xu Chen Below: A model of ‘Escape ( my family history )’ by Li Jinghu ( which was still under construction last week ) Below: ‘Crossroads’ by Cheng Ran ( a light installation )This is just a small selection of the new Chinese work which I really loved ( you can see all of it here ), It’s so atmospheric and completely transports you into that wonderful sense of feeling rather than thinking; for me personally, an essential part of my love for art…

As I said before there are also lots of other sculptures there which was great to discover…

Below: ‘Host’ by Peter Burke, 1996 Below: ‘The Return’ by Rodney Bender, 2012 Below: ‘Yo Renia’ by David Worthington, 2003 Below: ‘ Singer of Tales’ by Jon Isherwood, 2010(…I also have to mention/insert at this point that the toilets ( below ) at CASS are extraordinary ! They are basically the epitomy of the outside loo! ). There are also amazing picnic tables which I didn’t get to use, by David Grove which you can see here…the whole experience of being there in the grounds seems completely interactive with the art itself

Below: ‘Field of Rods’ by Vong PhaophanitBelow: ‘Portal’ by Jonathan Loxley, 2006Below: ‘Claw’ by Steve Dilworth, 2006 ’Mandala Eighty’ by David Annesley, 2003 Below: ‘Declination’ by Tony Cragg, 2005 Below: ‘Encampment’ by Diane Maclean, 1999 ( this was one of my favourite pieces outside of the ‘A Beautiful Disorder’ exhibition )

The whole visit left me so excited about going back again because there was so much I didn’t get to see this time, and I absolutely want to spend at least a whole day there!

It is a brilliant, brilliant place, not only to enjoy sculpture and art, but also to be outside in nature just forgetting about everything else…it’s like a wonderful, abstract wonderland which I can’t recommend highly enough…and I aslo came away with a very swanky keyring based on the design of their entrance gate by Wendy Ramshaw!