Robert Indiana, LOVE (Red Blue Green) (1966–1998), installation view at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2022. Photo: © Jonty Wilde, courtesy of Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Artwork: © 2022 Morgan Art Foundation Ltd./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London
Robert Indiana: Sculpture 1958-2018, at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, was the first major UK exhibition of sculpture, painting, and prints by Robert Indiana. It traced the development of Indiana's sculpture across six decades, exploring the complex character of his art practice, and considering his view of the darker side of the American dream. It highlighted the themes of unity, acceptance, and love that run throughout Indiana’s work, and which remain relevant today for movements against racism and discrimination towards LGBTQIA+ communities.
Indiana’s iconic LOVE (Red Blue Green) (1966–1998), set within the Yorkshire countryside instead of the urban context in which it is usually shown, welcomed visitors at the entrance to YSP.
Indiana was an advocate for many human rights issues, and central to the exhibition were his important social justice works. Mississippi (1965), from the artist’s Confederacy series, was a controversial response to racist atrocities committed against the United States Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and ‘60s, harking back to the American Civil War, with its formation of the pro-slavery and white supremacist Confederate States. Love Rising (The Black and White Love) (1968) was made in the aftermath of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Ash (1985), from Indiana’s Vinalhaven Construction series, references the gay community’s response to the AIDS crisis of the 1980s.
One of the earliest works in the exhibition, The Melville Triptych (1962), references Coenties Slip, the street in Manhattan where Indiana lived from 1956 amid a community of notable artists, including Ellsworth Kelly, Agnes Martin, and Cy Twombly. In 1978 he moved to Vinalhaven, an island off the coast of Maine. Although away from the New York art scene, Indiana continued to create works in his home and studio, Star of Hope, which is now under the supervision of a foundation he created to preserve his legacy and promote visual arts education.
Robert Indiana, Ash (1985, cast 2017), installation view at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2022. Photo: © Jonty Wilde, courtesy of Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Artwork: © 2022 Morgan Art Foundation Ltd./ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London
Striking groups of columns and herms were displayed across three gallery spaces, including early wooden constructions as well as later bronze casts. Varying in size from just over 1 meter to 3.5 meters tall, these sculptures were created using salvaged materials from the demolished industrial buildings surrounding the artist’s studio.
Indiana’s brilliantly coloured, 6-foot-high aluminium sculptures ONE Through ZERO (The Ten Numbers) (1980–2001) were placed on the lawn outside the Underground Gallery. Blending painting and sculpture, the Numbers represent the stages of human life, from birth to death. Indiana’s fascination with numbers stemmed from an acute awareness of how they are connected to everything we do and how they are understood across many languages. “Numbers fill my life,” he stated. “They fill my life even more than love. We are immersed in numbers from the moment we’re born.”
The exhibition was supported by Morgan Art Foundation Ltd. and the Henry Moore Foundation.
Robert Indiana, LOVE Wall (1966–2006), installation view at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2022. Photo: © Jonty Wilde, courtesy of Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Artwork: © 2022 Morgan Art Foundation Ltd./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London
Robert Indiana, LOVE Wall (1966–2006), installation view at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2022. Photo: © Jonty Wilde, courtesy of Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Artwork: © 2022 Morgan Art Foundation Ltd./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London
Robert Indiana, LOVE (Red Blue Green) (1966–1998), installation view at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2022. Photo: © Jonty Wilde, courtesy of Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Artwork: © 2022 Morgan Art Foundation Ltd./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London
Robert Indiana, ONE Through ZERO (The Ten Numbers) (1980–2001), installation view at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2022. Photo: © Jonty Wilde, courtesy of Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Artwork: © 2022 Morgan Art Foundation Ltd./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London
Robert Indiana, ONE Through ZERO (The Ten Numbers) (1980–2001), installation view at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2022. Photo: © Jonty Wilde, courtesy of Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Artwork: © 2022 Morgan Art Foundation Ltd./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London
Robert Indiana, AMOR (Red Yellow) (1998–2006), installation view at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2022. Photo: © Jonty Wilde, courtesy of Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Artwork: © 2022 Morgan Art Foundation Ltd./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London
Robert Indiana, Imperial LOVE (1966–2006), installation view at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2022. Photo: © Jonty Wilde, courtesy of Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Artwork: © 2022 Morgan Art Foundation Ltd./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London
Robert Indiana, Imperial LOVE (1966–2006), installation view at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2022. Photo: © Jonty Wilde, courtesy of Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Artwork: © 2022 Morgan Art Foundation Ltd./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London
Robert Indiana, ART (1972–2001), installation view at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2022. Photo: © Jonty Wilde, courtesy of Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Artwork: © 2022 Morgan Art Foundation Ltd./ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London
Robert Indiana: Sculpture 1958-2018 installation view at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2022. Photo: © Jonty Wilde, courtesy of Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Artwork: © 2022 Morgan Art Foundation Ltd./ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London
Robert Indiana: Sculpture 1958-2018 installation view at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2022. Photo: © Jonty Wilde, courtesy of Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Artwork: © 2022 Morgan Art Foundation Ltd./ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London
Robert Indiana: Sculpture 1958-2018 installation view at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2022. Photo: © Jonty Wilde, courtesy of Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Artwork: © 2022 Morgan Art Foundation Ltd./ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London
Robert Indiana: Sculpture 1958-2018 installation view at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2022. Photo: © Jonty Wilde, courtesy of Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Artwork: © 2022 Morgan Art Foundation Ltd./ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London
Robert Indiana, Exploding Numbers (1964–66), installation view at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2022. Photo: © Jonty Wilde, courtesy of Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Artwork: © 2022 Morgan Art Foundation Ltd./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London
Robert Indiana, The Electric LOVE (1966–2000), installation view at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2022. Photo: © Jonty Wilde, courtesy of Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Artwork: © 2022 Morgan Art Foundation Ltd./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London
