Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Andy Goldsworthy and friends...

Just as for the last 30 years the Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) has been providing "art in the open air" so, for much of that time, artist Andy Goldsworthy has been bringing nature in from the cold.

Born in West Yorkshire and trained at Bradford College of Art, Goldsworthy began his association with the YSP in 1983 when he was virtually unknown and returned as artist in residence in 1987. Now an artist with an international reputation, Goldsworthy's anniversary exhibition - combining old and new work - takes over much of the Park.

The Striding Arches

Speaking to Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Newsnight, Goldsworthy tells us how the YSP itself has provided a canvas for his work: "There isn't anywhere else in the country that I could work in this way. There just isn't. The works outside [in the exhibition] actually appear like agricultural enclosures, sheepfolds and a lot or people pass them by, possibly not looking or knowing there's work inside, and I love the subversive hidden quality to the sculptures. They don't see them as an audience but as a participant. This is a landscape that has been worked by people for hundreds and thousands of years. I find this relationship between people and the sculpture and the landscape fascinating."

Where other artists may use paint and bronze, Goldsworthy is very much seen as using materials from the natural world. Leaves, mud, twigs - they are all here in this exhibition but the first work the visitor sees on arrival is on a truly monumental scale. The Striding Arches, made of red Dumfriesshire sandstone (quarried near to where the artist now lives) stand outside the Underground Gallery. You'll look in vain for cement - the Arches are entirely self-supporting!

You might just find a bit of yourself here

However, much of the material of the work inside the Underground Gallery was found right here in West Yorkshire and in part still seems to have a life of its own. Take the Stacked Oak, a cairn made up of branches from trees felled near to the Park and still dotted with spiders' webs. Similarly the raw material for the Stone Room comes from a well-known Huddersfield quarry. This is crazy paving but not in a way you've ever seen it before. These 11 stone domes are never the same depending which way you look at them. The word most often heard on our visit: "Beautiful!"

Just as "beautiful", the Leaf Stalk Room at the far end of the Underground Gallery couldn't be more different. More than 10,000 leaf stalks gathered here at the YSP are held together only by blackthorns! Goldsworthy made his very first stalk screen here in 1987.

Take a brisk walk, or a trip by shuttle bus, up the hill to the Longside Gallery and you'll discover a new use for cow dung. Seriously, though, you may find yourself seeing the Bretton landscape in a different way. This gallery is dominated by abstract Sheep Paintings. Just take a look at our PHOTO GALLERY to find out what we mean!

Light and leaf stalks!

You might even find something of yourself ending up in the exhibition. The Mud Ball, begun by the artist on March 1st 2007, is made from some of the muck visitors bring in to the YSP galleries on their shoes. Come back in a year to see how much it has grown!

Certainly Andy Goldsworthy feels he has grown as an artist since his early days at the YSP. Speaking at the opening of the exhibition he tells us he is less concerned now with particular leaves or trees than he was in 1983. Instead of this, he says: "I'm now more aware of the broader social human historical context in which the work is made."

He hopes to continue to play his part in the history of the YSP. He says: "Britain isn't the easiest place to set up a sculpture park and Yorkshire may not be the easiest place...That very difficulty has forced the YSP to have strong roots."

He points his own camera at the crowd and says: "It's very moving for me to see you all with the [Striding] Arches moving through."

The Andy Goldsworthy exhibition at the YSP has now finished but you can still see something of what was on show by taking a look at our special Photo Gallery.