Materials Worlds at Sudeley Castle, UK

Last year we reported on the Sotheby’s Contemporary Design Fair at Sudeley Castle - the 10th-century Cotswolds pile that was once home to Katherine Parr (Henry VIII’s last wife). This year the venerable auction house returns to Sudeley, once again showcasing artworks by leading international designers and architects in this most stately of settings, with a stellar line-up that includes Ingo Maurer, Tord Boontje, Paul Fryer, Laura Ellen Bacon, David Adjaye and Amanda Levete.
The exhibition, entitled ’Material Worlds’, brings together sculptures and installations by 11 artists from the UK, Canada, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Lebanon - priced from £2,200 to £216,000. As you’d expect, plonking these 21st century works in a bucolic medieval setting creates a pleasingly dramatic juxtaposition. As Henry Moore, whose collected works are currently on display in the grounds of Jacobean manor Hatfield House, put it: ’Sculpture is an art of the open air.’
We particularly like Paul Fryer’s ’The Kingdom (47Hz)’ - essentially a giant, 5m tall tuning fork. Lighting maestro Ingo Maurer’s ethereal ’LED Table’, installed to great effect in the castle chapel, is also impressive. While Andrea Salvetti’s ’Mazzolin di Fiori’ (’Bouquet of Flowers’) - a cupola of 1,500 aluminium blooms - looks spectacular against the backdrop of honey-coloured Cotswold stone.
Curator Janice Blackburn describes Sudely Castle ’as a magical place, where visitors will embark on a wonderful treasure hunt through the gardens.’ Best of all, if your pockets are deep enough you can even take the treasure home.