[grey](Photo: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire)[/grey]

The inaugural [size=14][red]Hepworth Prize for Sculpture[/red][/size] has been awarded to [size=14][red]Helen Marten[/red][/size] at an award ceremony at [size=14][red]The Hepworth Wakefield[/red][/size] gallery, last Thursday 17th of November. The £30,000 prize recognises a British or UK-based artist of any age, at any stage in their career, who has made a significant contribution to the development of contemporary sculpture.

This new Prize was created to celebrate the gallery's 5th anniversary during 2016 and aims to demystify contemporary sculpture. The Hepworth Wakefield’s Director, [size=14][red]Simon Wallis[/red][/size] said: “[grey]Britain is home to a long line of great sculptors from Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore and Anthony Caro and beyond. [/grey][...][grey] yet there was no significant Prize to recognise this art form.[/grey]”

Helen Marten was born in 1985 in Macclesfield. She studied at the Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford and at Central Saint Martins in London. Marten’s recent solo exhibitions include Parrot Problems in Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany (2014) and Plank Salad at the Chisenhale Gallery in London (2012), and her work was present in the 2015 Venice Biennale. Marten has also been shortlisted for the 2016 Turner Prize, and currently lives and works in London.

The exhibition, which runs until the 19th of February 2017, is the most ambitious ever mounted by the gallery. It features work by all the shortlisted nominees, that includes Phyllida Barlow, Steven Claydon, Helen Marten, David Medalla and reflects the wide range of sculptural practice taking place in the UK today.

The members of the judging panel comprised five leading international commentators within the field of visual arts:
> Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, [grey]director of Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea and Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Torino[/grey]
> Sir David Chipperfield, [grey]architect and designer of The Hepworth Wakefield [/grey]
> Sheikha Hoor al-Qasimi, [grey]president of the Sharjah Art Foundation [/grey]
> Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, [grey]president of The Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, collector and patron of the arts[/grey]
> Alastair Sooke, [grey]art critic and broadcaster[/grey]

[size=14][red]More Info:[/red][/size] The Hepworth Wakefield Prize for Sculpture

Annabelle Tesseyre © Modemonline