Welsh artist Cerith Wyn Evans bags the 2018 Hepworth Prize for sculpture

Date
16 November 2018
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Hepworth Wakefield/Cerith Wyn Evans: Composition For 37 Flutes

A low and mournful hum is the noise we make most mornings upon waking. It is also the sound that prize-winning Welsh multidisciplinary Cerith Wyn Evans’ prize-winning Composition For 37 Flutes has been described as producing.

It was those 37 flutes – made from glass pipes – that has seen Cerith bagging the 2018 Hepworth Prize, doled out at an award ceremony in Wakefield last night (15 November). Named after one of the best known and well-loved sculptors to emerge from the British Isles, said prize, so say the organisers, “recognises a British or UK-based artist of any age, at any stage of their career, who has made a significant contribution to the development of contemporary sculpture.”

Simon Wallace, the gallery’s director, says: “Cerith has been a hugely influential artist for over 30 years and his recent work has been truly exceptional, extending the possibilities of what sculpture can be.”

In addition to the sense of satisfaction that surely comes with winning such a prestigious prize, a feeling we’ve not known since getting our clammy hands on a bronze medal in the 400 metre race on our Year 9 sports day, Cerith finds himself £30,000 richer this morning. Which must be nice.

As you can see below, Cerith picked up the gong wearing a rather regal robe. Perhaps the time has come for the robe to replace the fishermen’s smock as the thing to wear in your studio? We’ll ask Vogue and get back to you on that.

Anyway, anyone keen to catch the cutting-edge of contemporary sculpture has until 20 January 2019 to see all the nominated work in its lovely, temporary northern home.

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Hepworth Prize/Cerith Wyn Evans

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About the Author

Josh Baines

Josh Baines joined It's Nice That from July 2018 to July 2019 as News Editor, covering new high-profile projects, awards announcements, and everything else in between.

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