Since Wakefield’s art collection was established in 1923, it has had an aim of nurturing an understanding of contemporary art and its relation to modern life. The Hepworth Wakefield continues to develop the collection with this core aim, showing how art can help us understand and explore current lived experiences. This exhibition will showcase a number of important acquisitions made over the last two years, which will be displayed at the gallery for the very first time.
Stefanie Heinze (b. 1987, Berlin) lives and works in Berlin. Heinze has gained recognition for her brightly coloured and imaginative compositions, which draw on the legacies of Surrealism. From disembodied body parts and everyday objects, to animal-like figures, her subjects melt into colourful, fantastical backgrounds to create vivid visual worlds. Parasol (STICK THER F BOI) was made in 2021 during lockdown in Germany. Heinze drew on her experience of restricted movement and limited social interaction, using the surface of the canvas as a space for the imagination – a substitute for closeness and touch.