One hundred life-sized cast-iron sculptures have been installed at North Norfolk’s Houghton Hall ahead of its reopening later this month.
The installation of the 100 works marks the first time Antony Gormley’s large-scale work will be staged in the UK.
The sculptures, each weighing 620kg and standing at an average of 191cm, are distributed across 300 acres of the park, the furthest away being approximately 1.5 miles from its centre.
Around a quarter of the works are placed on concrete columns that vary from a few centimetres high to rising four meters off the ground.
Gormley said of the installation: “The quality of the light, the time of the year, the state of the weather and the condition of your mind, body and soul are all implicated in the field, as is all the evidence within it of human activity already accomplished as well as the plethora of life forms that surround the hall.”
The installation is part of Houghton Arts Foundation’s efforts to build a collection of contemporary art at Houghton Hall, including a number of site-specific commissions. Also programmed for this year is an exhibition of sculptures made and sited in response to the state rooms at Houghton Hall by artist Dame Magdalene Odundo.
A group of new works will be presented in the great Stone Hall, as will a new commission created during Odundo’s recent residency at Wedgwood, reflecting on the history of the company, Josiah Wedgwood’s role in the abolitionist movement and the continued fight for racial equality.
