Ey up: Damien Hirst will allas luv t’Yorkshire

The lambs and ewes will have plenty of new sculptures to frolic around later this month at Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) when four works by the veteran Brit Damien Hirst will go on show among the woodlands and glades of the scenic art space (13 April-29 September). Hirst’s ten-metre tall piece, The Virgin Mother (2005-06), will stand against the backdrop of the Lower Lake while Charity (2002-03), depicting a young disabled girl in callipers, will go on display near the recently opened Weston building. Hirst effuses on Instagram about the initiative, adopting apparently a Yorkshire dialect and tone to say: “Luv, luv ya ar kid! When I was a kid I used to hang out on Ilkley Moor a lot and I’ll allas luv t’Yorkshire landscape, the works looks [sic.] beauty in it.” The Hirst smorgasbord forms part of the Yorkshire Sculpture International festival, a free event also encompassing the Henry Moore Institute, Leeds Art Gallery and Hepworth Wakefield. Other sculptures by YBA Damien will grace the Leeds landscape including the marble work Anatomy of an Angel (2008) at the Victoria Quarter arcade in Leeds city centre (22 June-29 September).The works are all drawn from private collections (let’s hope some become permanent fixtures).