Outdoor art: summer show unveiled

Published by University of Leicester Press Office for University of Leicester in Communities and also in Education

A host of thought provoking and surprising works of art will be on show at the opening of the University of Leicester’s annual outdoor sculpture exhibition this weekend.

The annual Sculpture In The Garden event will open on Sunday, July 1, at the University’s Harold Martin Botanic Garden on Stoughton Drive South, Oadby.

This year’s show, entitled “Interesting Times”, will feature a variety of large-scale sculptures curated by award winning artist Almuth Tebbenhoff.

A sinister garden shed, a larger than life-sized ‘Floating Man’, and granite bulbs that emerge out of the ground like upended mines will all feature in the show. There will. also be a huge steel wedge which appears to have hurtled from space onto the lawn in the botanical garden and a flock of brazen pigeons populating the pergolas, all waiting to be discovered.

A number of celebrated artists will exhibit their work, including Nick Turvey, David Worthington, Sean Henry, Ann Christopher, Katherine Gili, and Eilis O'Connell.

Almuth herself is an elected Fellow of the Royal British Society of Sculptors. She has exhibited her work at two of Leicester’s previous Sculpture in the Garden exhibitions – first in 2005 and again in 2007 – and her suspended steel sculpture 'Flying Colours' floats permanently above the foyer of the David Wilson University Library.

She said: “It will be fantastic to open the exhibition. There are some really big, exciting pieces - including large sculptures made by women, which is still unusual. The show has a lovely balance of work."

The exhibition will run from July 1 to October 28. Except on special open days, entrance is free, and the garden is open from 10am-4pm from Monday-Sunday for the duration of the exhibition.