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Within our Foreshore Park here in Newcastle, there stands a particularly emotive, poignant and I think quite lovely sculpture, set as a reminder of the impact mental illness can have. On our Hunter community and humanity in general.
Sculpted by Newcastle-based Roger McFarlane, this piece portrays an abstract female form in a contemplative pose.
The words 'resilience’ and 'mental health and wellbeing' are inscribed on its base. The base of the statue is also equipped with a QR matrix that allows visitors to scan a code with their smartphones and call up information on mental health services.
McFarlane has commented on his sculpture being "complex to minimal, depending on the viewer’s vantage point - intended to show all aspects of human nature. We can look very calm on the outside, with a lot going on inside of us".
Unveiled 2015. Marble, 2 m in height.
© All rights reserved.
A quietly powerful moment within The Phillips Collection is captured in this image of Étoile by Jean Arp (also known as Hans Arp). Installed in an intimate alcove of the museum, the artwork exemplifies Arp’s lifelong commitment to biomorphic abstraction, minimalism, and spiritual form. Two vertical panels, each a soft matte white, rise like modernist totems. Out of their surface emerge smooth, organic shapes—rounded nodules, a slanted cylinder, and curved extrusions—casting gentle shadows that subtly shift throughout the day.
The placement of the sculpture, nestled within a recess of clean white walls, encourages contemplation. There is a hushed clarity here, where geometry meets breath and volume becomes both tactile and metaphysical. Arp’s approach invites touch through the eye—his forms are non-representational, yet they feel familiar, almost like archetypes unearthed from memory or dreams.
Born in Alsace and active in the Dada and Surrealist movements, Arp's later work distills those influences into something more serene and abstract. Étoile strips away ornament, leaving a constellation of forms that feel placed by intuition rather than design. There's a rhythm in their arrangement that balances tension and grace.
The contrast between this white relief and the more linear, black painting glimpsed in the adjacent gallery highlights Arp’s gentle rebellion against rigidity. Where others imposed structure, he offered flow. Where others defined meaning, he left space for interpretation. The result is a work that breathes—even in stillness, even in silence.
This image captures not only the artwork but also the museum's curatorial insight. The lighting, warm and discreet, enhances the dimensionality of Arp’s forms without overpowering them. The surrounding space respects the integrity of the piece, offering it the visual and emotional room it needs to resonate.
Viewers encountering this work often pause, struck not by spectacle but by stillness. It’s a reminder that modern art doesn’t need to shout—it can whisper, coax, and move. Arp’s contribution to 20th-century abstraction remains vital precisely because of this subtlety. He wasn’t interested in defining the universe, only in reminding us that form, like life, is in constant evolution.
This artwork and its installation are a masterclass in restraint. The photograph seeks to honor that ethos—centering the work, allowing the architecture to recede, and capturing the calm, almost sacred quiet of the moment. Whether you are a fan of minimalism, a student of modern art, or simply someone who appreciates the purity of form, this piece offers a lasting impression.
Explore What Matters: A Proposition at SFMOMA, where contemporary works converge to question life, meaning, and art. The exhibition presents an evolving narrative in eight rooms, each inviting visitors to engage deeply with materials and concepts that bridge the personal and the universal. In this second episode, the exhibit showcases newly acquired works from artists such as Patty Chang, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Sky Hopinka, and Guadalupe Maravilla, among others.
A standout is Maravilla’s Fortuna and the Immortality Garden (Machine). This imposing structure blends organic and industrial elements, weaving together ritual, survival, and regeneration. The piece reflects Maravilla’s own migration journey from El Salvador to the U.S., using materials gathered along the path. The sculpture, part of a series known as “Disease Throwers,” incorporates objects such as gongs, loofahs, and wooden elements, all designed to be activated through ritual sound baths. These immersive performances imbue the piece with healing energy, resonating with both historical and spiritual significance.
Architecturally, the minimalist gallery space complements the dynamic forms of the sculpture, allowing visitors to focus on the intricate interplay of textures and materials. The circular chalk outline on the floor, visible in the installation, emphasizes the piece’s ritualistic qualities, creating a space where art and healing intersect.
This exhibition encourages visitors to reflect on resilience, transformation, and the cyclical nature of existence, with works that evoke both quiet introspection and collective healing.
This image showcases a multicolored human-shaped sculpture framed within a rectangular structure. The sculpture is composed of a dark, textured material with vibrant patches of color distributed throughout its body, giving it a modern and abstract aesthetic. The setting is an outdoor public space, with rows of flag poles visible in the background, suggesting it may be located in a park or exhibition area.
Another aspect of the way in which the concrete cast of Old Gibellina is being re-colonised by wild life. A huge flock of house martins seem to have taken over the whole place as a home. I thought that at this time of the year they would have migrated further north. It looks like on their trip from Africa the solar heated concrete of Gibellina has proved just too attractive when compared with flying further to find a cool summer roof in a the UK. Here they can squeeze through the cracks in the concrete and build their nests in the warmth of the ruins beneath and glide around to their hearts content in the thermals above.
Inspired by a visit to the Alberto Burri exhibition at the Estorick Collection - www.estorickcollection.com/exhibitions/ - I thought it was time to add some shots to my set on Burri's largest work at Old Gibellina in Sicily.
Inspired by a visit to the Alberto Burri exhibition at the Estorick Collection - www.estorickcollection.com/exhibitions/ - I thought it was time to add some shots to my set on Burri's largest work at Old Gibellina in Sicily.
Inspired by a visit to the Alberto Burri exhibition at the Estorick Collection - www.estorickcollection.com/exhibitions/ - I thought it was time to add a few more shots to my set on Burri's largest work at Old Gibellina in Sicily.
Inspired by a visit to the Alberto Burri exhibition at the Estorick Collection - www.estorickcollection.com/exhibitions/ - I thought it was time to add a few more shots to my set on Burri's largest work at Old Gibellina in Sicily.
The two cheerful lads from Modena who were making a 24 hour time lapse film of Il Cretto. Apart from the umbrellas to shade their equipment they seemed to have brought little to protect them from the sun, just a couple of towels and the inside of their car. Hope you survived to tell the story guys.
Old Gibellina lies on a south facing slope and by the time we arrived it was already getting closer to midday than I'd wanted for this photographic expedition.
You can see how the site of the old town sits above the vineyards still surrounded by ruins and piles of rubble. Above that lies what looks like a concrete carpet - Alberto Burri's memorial artwork, Il Cretto (The Crack).
And above that again the newest element in this landscape - a wind-farm.
Inspired by a visit to the Alberto Burri exhibition at the Estorick Collection - www.estorickcollection.com/exhibitions/ - I thought it was time to add some shots to my set on Burri's largest work at Old Gibellina in Sicily.
This little set up was by a group of young photographers from Modena who had driven down to Sicily to make a 24 hour time lapse film of Burri's concrete Cretto. Hope it was worth the effort guys.
It seemed like this had been provided just for us. In the middle of nowhere, surrounded by ruins you suddenly come upon brand new concrete kerbs, tarmaced road, surfaced car-park and street signs - the most clearly sign-posted car park we came across on our whole trip. And not another car or person in sight.
Just as I was leaving the site of Burri's Cretto another photographer turned up. He appeared to be much better equipped (photographically speaking!) than me but I couldn't help thinking that he looked like a paparazzo who'd gone to the wrong venue.
Inspired by a visit to the Alberto Burri exhibition at the Estorick Collection - www.estorickcollection.com/exhibitions/ - I thought it was time to add some shots to my set on Burri's largest work at Old Gibellina in Sicily.
Couldn't resist one last shot (promise:) of Il Cretto from below. By now I'd spent nearly an hour wandering around the ghost streets and the heat was getting pretty intense. The only refuge was an air conditioned car.
Unfortunately it is all too obvious that the concrete construction is not of the highest quality. Here the reinforcing rods are too near the surface and have been exposed as the concrete cracks on the corner. Also the joints between the walls and the concrete skim on top are open to water penetration - more views of the consequences of that later.
From here it looks like a small crack but closer to it turned out to be a pretty big hole. See next shot for a close up.
Looking back to some of the remaining ruins of the earhquake. In the right middle ground are some incomplete sections of "Il Cretto" which were left when work was abandoned on the concrete sculpture project in 1989. Because the "streets here were left unpaved vegetation has taken root and has now started to colonise the street blocks too.
One of the most melancholy aspects of this site is that not only was the ruined town itself abandoned but also the project intended to transform it into a memorial sculpture.
The last two recognisable buildings in Gibellina still standing in their ruinous state 43 years after the earthquake that destroyed the town on 15th January 1968.
I loved the way that wild flowers have started to colonise the cracks along the edge of the concrete.
Looking along one of the flatter (main) streets that run along the slope. I've been trying to work out from an old map what the name of this street might have been but it's all but impossible so I won't speculate.
Although it would not be in keeping with the "minimalist" ethos of the sculpture I couldn't help thinking that some discreet street signs might help to create more of a sense of place here.
The soft shuttering (plastic or paper?) on the concrete walls produced interesting patterns which catch the sun-light along the street.
I was a more than a little wary of climbing up onto the concrete surface. There seems to be a very thin skim of concrete over the rubble and clearly in places it can't take the weight of a few human beings.
This little set up was by a group of young photographers from Modena who had driven down to Sicily to make a 24 hour time lapse film of Burri's concrete Cretto. Hope it was worth the effort guys.
On a south facing slope in full sun 20 acres of concrete sculpture look (and feel) quite intimidating.
The slope in the foreground looks like a pile of concrete fines that were never used. The sculpture as envisaged by Alberto Burri was never finished. What is here was constructed between 1985 and 1989 and when the money ran out it was left just over three quarters complete.
Eventually we found what we were looking for - the site of Gibellina Vecchia (old Gibellina), no longer inhabited but a unique memorial site.
As you wander through these concrete channels it is hard to imagine that these were once living streets lined with houses in which real people lived their lives.
Exhibition Review - Anthony Caro: 'Caro in Yorkshire' The Hepworth Wakefield and Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Yorkshire till Nov 1st 2015.
At Caro's I braved
stacks and cascades of
lonely lines and bristling angles
in patterns of naked cold steel
clustering to be a building
or a bridge
or mangled remains of a once working
heavenly machine.-Drenched Co.
Comment: "The quiet calm of Caro's 'Fallen' Angels - Mangled wings, broken lines, scent of steel, touch of Heaven." - JayZee
See www.hepworthwakefield.org/whatson/anthony-caro/
See also www.woundsthatbind.com/2015/09/exhibition-review-anthony-...
Image courtesy The Hepworth Wakefield and the Caro Estate. Photo by Jonty Wilde.
Supplied caption: Installation view of Caro in Yorkshire, featuring Anthony Caro, Morning Shadows, 2012 in foreground. Photo by Jonty Wilde.
We take great care not to harm the image in any way. And these views, they are ours only and not those of the gallery or artist.
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We had to use colour overheads for this presentation, so I took in some props, including Mrs Gideon and a Milly Molly Mandy book. Mrs Gideon looked awesome on the overhead projector(even though I showed her off it during my presentation, I got there early and was playing about a bit). She got really hot, really fast.
When the concrete was newly set in the late 1980s it was predominantly off-white in colour which reflected back the glare of the sun. Over 20 years later whilst it still reflects a blinding glare (and intense heat) in the mid-day sun the uneven surfaces have acquired a patina as they weather unevenly.
After leaving the car park we found this sign tucked away behind the ruined building shown in the previous picture. It gives a little of the background to the memorial sculpture "Il Cretto" that we'd come to see.
Compared to most places we visited in Sicily the interpretation signs provided in the Province of Trapani are of very high quality and it looks as if you can download an MP3 guided tour from their website.