Age of austerity reflected in artthat is made from everyday objects

CONTEMPORARY sculptures made from everyday objects are featured in a new exhibition in Leeds.

Many of these sculptures have been created from discarded or recycled objects – from tree branches to corrugated plastic.

Twenty artists from across Europe and North and South America are displaying their works at the Henry Moore Institute in The Headrow, Leeds.

One piece, Alexandra Bircken’s Gewachs, makes use of tree branches. She said: “I use branches because they are lying around. The ones I choose have to fit inside my car, they have to fit inside my imagination and they have to fit anyhow.

“I also use branches because I have no money and because, unlike money, they literally grow on trees.”

Institute spokeswoman Rebecca Land said: “These ‘homespun’ sculptures, made from readily available materials by artists from Europe, the US and Brazil seem to reflect a new age of austerity.

“Contemporary sculptors such as Damien Hirst and Mark Quinn experimented with the use of diamonds and gold at the height of the economic boom.

“The make do and mend approach illustrated here seems more appropriate to these newly constrained times.”

Details at www.henry-moore.ac.uk