Tread Softly at Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Polly Checkland Harding
Artists from the Arts Council Collection including Tracey Emin, Grayson Perry and Bedwyr Williams have contributed work to Tread Softly, an exhibition on childhood and family at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. For some, including Emin and Perry, art was a form of salvation amidst difficult circumstances when growing up – for others, the exhibition has provoked an exploration the way reality and memory overlap, or an assessment of people who were pivotal when growing up.
Photographs by Fiona Crisp and Nigel Shalfran present the emotionally charged objects left in a room by a departed father, recalling family caravan holidays at the seaside, whilst Mary Kelly and Mona Hatoum (recent focus of an extraordinary exhibition at Tate Modern) explore parental relationships. The result looks set to be a high-profile, emotionally charged showcase.
