Turner prizewinner Richard Long exhibits at Abbot Hall Art Gallery (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Turner prizewinner Richard Long exhibits at Abbot Hall Art Gallery

9:40am Friday 21st October 2011 in Art By Adrian Mullen, Arts correspondent

A TURNER prizewinner and a some of the most celebrated galleries in the country have teamed up with Abbot Hall.

The highly thought of Kendal art gallery has sealed a deal with Tate and Edinburgh’s National Galleries of Scotland to exhibit work by 1989 Turner recipient Richard Long.

Richard’s acclaimed photographs, sculpture, maps, text pieces and mud works on paper form part of Artist Rooms - a new collection of modern and contemporary art, established through the generosity of former arts dealer and collector Anthony d’Offay, who donated more than 1,000 works to the Tate and NGS in 2008.

Apparently one of the biggest private collections of international post-war and contemporary art, it includes creations by the likes of Damian Hirst, Francesca Woodman, Ron Mueck, Gilbert and George and Jeff Koons. And of course, Royal Academician Richard Long.

According to Abbot Hall’s dynamic artistic director Helen Watson, galleries have to apply to host one of the ‘rooms’ - there’s 52 altogether.

“It is a rigorous process to meet their criteria,” explained Helen.

“We applied for the Richard Long and got it.

“We’re punching above our own weight again. And it’s really exciting to be working in partnership with such prestigious galleries and their curators.”

Helen said they wanted the Richard Long ‘room’ because the environment and landscape was the subject of his work: “It seemed fitting having it here in Kendal on the edge of the Lake District.”

The Artist Rooms: Richard Long exhibition runs until December 17 and includes more than 20 of his works.

Additionally, Abbot Hall has landed funding from the Art Fund for a project to run alongside the exhibition with Cumbrian artist Jac Scott going into local schools to create works inspired by the exhibition.

Richard will also bring up mud from the River Avon to create a ‘Slow Hand Spiral’ in one of Abbot Hall’s galleries: “That’s quite a coup in itself,” added Helen.

Richard Long first came to prominence during the late 1960s and was among a generation of British artists who wanted to extend the possibilities of sculpture beyond the confines of traditional materials.

His work is rooted in his deep affinity with nature, developed during solitary walks, many of which have taken him through remote areas of Britain while others have been as far afield as Nepal, Africa, Mexico and Bolivia.