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New Burning Man Sculptures at Chatsworth ahead of October Burn Event

22nd August 2022

More than 500 schoolchildren have worked alongside the artists at Radical Horizons: The Art of Burning Man at Chatsworth to create and build three huge new interactive sculptures as part of the UK exhibition.

These latest additions to Radical Horizons make a total of twelve works spread across a site more than a mile long and half a mile wide and set in 1000 acres of free-to-access parkland surrounding the house at the Derbyshire estate.

Radical Horizons: The Art of Burning Man runs until 1 October when it will close with the ceremonial burning of the new sculpture Relevé to symbolise the ‘letting go’ of the exhibition. The ceremony follows tradition set by the global Burning Man event in Nevada.

A nine-metre high structure built primarily in wood by the artist Rebekah Waites with hundreds of children from local schools, Relevé was inspired by Derbyshire folklore that says a bronze age stone circle near Chatsworth was formed from the remains of nine ladies turned into stone for dancing on the Sabbath.

Relevé not only pays homage to the nine ladies, but also celebrates the rebellious spirit of dance, music and art. By challenging the folklore behind this archaeological site, Relevé attempts to rewrite the story and release the women from their eternal stillness. Nine twisted structures made of wood and intricately decorated with a rope and string laced facade, dance around one another.

Relevé – Photo taken by Chatsworth House Trust

Over the past few months, schoolchildren and young people from Derbyshire and Sheffield have collected materials and helped build the three new sculptures, mirroring the process in Nevada that sees teams of volunteers gathering in the desert to create new artworks. Burning Man is an arts and cultural event that usually takes place annually in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, USA.

Alongside Relevé, schoolchildren have worked on-site at Chatsworth with US artists, Shrine, Dana Albany, Heather Henderson, Flash Hopkins, and Kathy Richardson to create and build Coralee and Elysian Towers.

Relevé by Rebekah Waites with Watercliffe Community Primary, Sheffield, 240 children; St Anne’s Primary, Baslow, 17; Stanton in Peak Primary, 42; Rowsley Primary, 29: Relevé was inspired by the Nine Ladies Stone Circle, a Bronze Age archaeological site at Stanton Moore near Chatsworth and this sculpture will burn at the end of the exhibition as a celebratory finale.

Coralee by Dana Albany, Heather Henderson, Flash Hopkins, Kathy Richardson with Spire Junior School (Chesterfield): The sculpture takes the form of a mermaid – inspired by the folklore of the Mermaid’s Pool, situated just below Kinder Scout in the Dark Peak – and has been built of everyday metal and glass donated by Chatsworth, its staff and the local community. Look closely to spot spoons, bolts, keys, chandeliers and bicycle chains.

Coralee – Image taken by Chatsworth House Trust; Image Top Right, Duke Of Devonshire with The Flybary by Christina Sporrong – Image taken by Chatsworth House Trust

Elysian Towers by Shrine (also known as Brent Allen Spears) with Derbyshire Virtual School: Shrine has worked with young adults from Derbyshire Virtual School to create Elysian Towers. The artwork is made from ‘rubbish’ and found objects sourced locally by the participants themselves, using recycled glass donated by Ardagh Glass and plastic bottles stacked into towers, celebrating the joy of the unknown and making a monument dedicated to making the not-precious precious.

Elysian Towers by Shrine – Image by Chatsworth House Trust

These new participatory builds between the artists and local children and young people were organised by Chatsworth’s in-house Learning and Engagement team. Focusing on curriculum linked, hands-on, arts engagement sessions its work is designed to enhance visual literacy and develop technical and creative skills, while outdoor learning sessions include multisensory activities to help develop environmental understanding.

Kerry Fernandez, Arts and Engagement Manager: “This has been a wonderful experience for many children and young people who had never visited Chatsworth before. They have been given a rare opportunity to engage with contemporary art and artists, while learning new skills and techniques. We hope it will draw them into a lifelong engagement with the arts which can open their eyes to seeing things in new ways.”

Chatsworth supports the marketing and economic growth of the town through Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 200 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.

World famous Burning Man sculptures to arrive at Chatsworth this year

16th February 2022

Huge sculptures from Burning Man, held in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, USA will be making their UK debut at Chatsworth this spring at an ambitious and free-to-access exhibition in the Derbyshire estate’s parkland.

Radical Horizons: The Art of Burning Man at Chatsworth is a large-scale exhibition in the publicly accessible 1000 acre park surrounding the house, which sees 12 monumental sculptures from Burning Man, going on display in the UK for the first time from 9 April to 1 October.

While Radical Horizons takes place in Chatsworth’s parkland, a second exhibition Living With Art We love: An exhibition presented by the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire will be taking place inside the house from 26 March to 9 October.

It features favourite items from their acquisitions over the past 40 years, few of which have been on public display, including paintings, sculpture and furniture, and including some works from the historic collection with a section dedicated to Lucian Freud in that artist’s centenary.

The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, said: “We’re delighted to be announcing this celebratory programme for Chatsworth. The exhibition in the house is a marker in time – a record of our acquisitions that we want to share with others – while the sculptures in the park continue the great tradition of the estate as a backdrop for contemporary works. We very much hope that visitors find inspiration here in this special place.”

Radical Horizons: The Art of Burning Man at Chatsworth is an ambitious sculpture exhibition designed to celebrate a shared culture of making and collaboration. Burning Man is a unique event that usually takes place annually in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, USA, and Chatsworth has worked with the Burning Man team and artists to bring its distinctive culture of possibility and creativity to the Derbyshire landscape.

Chatsworth and Burning Man were introduced by Sotheby’s, who saw a synergy between the two organisations in their commitments to creativity and community.

The exhibition features eight existing sculptures and four works built on site, including three new participatory sculptures that will be created in the parkland with the help of visitors and local community groups over the course of the year, mirroring the build process at Burning Man that sees teams of volunteers gathering in the desert to create new artworks.

Free to access and enjoy for all, the exhibition also benefits from a dedicated engagement programme working with communities of people who generally find Chatsworth hard to access, offering activities designed to leave a legacy of creative possibility and new connections with people.

The Burning Man Project produces the annual Burning Man event in Black Rock City, and works year-round to extend and facilitate the culture that has grown from the event into the larger world.

Kim Cook, Director of Creative Initiatives at Burning Man, said: “We’ve come to understand Chatsworth as a place to foster innovation, creativity, thoughtfulness and thinkers since its early days, something that is also central to our work and ethos at Burning Man. Our hope is that the art in the landscape will provoke joy, new ways of viewing, and be an invitation to make up your own story about meaning as you explore the beautiful expanse of Chatsworth.”

Living With Art We Love

The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire are longstanding supporters of artists and makers alike and have collected works throughout their lives. This exhibition brings the artworks that they live with and love into the public areas of the house to share with visitors for the first time.

Specially selected objects include paintings, sculpture, furniture, ceramics and textiles. Contemporary artworks by Michael Craig Martin, Edmund de Waal, Natasha Daintry and Felicity Aylieff – artists actively collected and commissioned by the Duke and Duchess – are shown alongside historic art from the Devonshire Collections rarely seen in public, including major works by Poussin, Rembrandt and Boltraffio.

The exhibition also includes a special section on ‘Freud at Chatsworth’ dedicated to Lucian Freud, which sees all the artist’s paintings, drawings and prints in the Devonshire Collections on display together in his centenary year. These works span the entirety of Freud’s career and include the major themes of his oeuvre: portraits of his mother, partners, friends, family, and animals. Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire, began collecting and commissioning work by Freud after the two men became friends in the late 1940s. Freud spent time at Chatsworth and in total painted six members of the 11th Duke’s family over a period of 20 years.

Alexandra Hodby, Senior Curator of Programme at Chatsworth, said: “It is wonderful to bring together this group of works, which represent the span of Freud’s life, and celebrate his relationship to the Cavendish family over many years. We’re grateful to private lenders, who have allowed us to bring back two paintings which were once part of the Devonshire Collections, and reunite them with the works at Chatsworth.”

Chatsworth supports the marketing and economic growth of the town through Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 200 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.