In 2001, YSP presented the rare opportunity to see a comprehensive survey of work by influential British artist, William Tucker.

In the Pavilion, large-scale works from the 1970s onwards revealed Tucker’s early concern with the abstraction of form and materials. The Bothy Gallery introduced smaller bronzes, including maquettes and a series of horse heads, showing Tucker’s investigation into more traditional sculptural methods of modelling and casting in bronze. Forming a dramatic contrast in size, important large-scale bronzes from the 1980s and 1990s offered a unique chance to witness numerous recent works by Tucker in the landscape. The exhibition was characterised by juxtapositions of site, scale, materials and form, displaying Tucker’s changing concerns and influential developments.

Having studied sculpture with Phillip King and under Anthony Caro at St Martin’s School of Art, London, William Tucker (b1935) came to prominence during the 1960s as one of the New Generation sculptors. In 1974 he published his influential book, The Language of Sculpture and in 1975 he organised the important exhibition, The Condition of Sculpture at the Hayward Gallery.