A Grimsby artist will bang the gong for regional art after beating scores of entries to build her vision
Artist Annabel McCourt, right, with Wykeland Group MD Dominic Gibbons and Sarah Brignall, daughter of Wykeland’s founder, the late Jack Brignall at the location for a planned new sculpture overlooking the Stage @TheDock amphitheatre in Hull’s Fruit Market.(Image: R&R Studio.)
A striking sculpture by an acclaimed local artist is set to dominate the waterfront at Hull’s Fruit Market. Acclaimed Grimsby artist Annabel McCourt was picked from scores of people after proposing Resonant Tides (After the Strike).
The stunning sculpture will take its inspiration from the city’s links with J Arthur Rank and the famous gong associated with the Rank Organisation – an iconic image many will recognise from the movies. Annabel won the commission for the artwork, which will be installed close to the Stage @TheDock amphitheatre, following an open call which attracted more than 70 applications from artists across the UK and beyond.
She says the sculpture will also pay homage to the Fruit Market’s location, where the River Hull meets the Humber estuary. The international artist, whose work includes large-scale public art, installations, photography and film which been shown in the UK, Brazil, Australia and China, already has strong links with Hull.
Her Electric Fence installation was commissioned for Hull UK City of Culture 2017 and has since been shown internationally. And her latest successful proposal has a fascinating link back to Hull.
J Arthur Rank was born into the family flour milling business, which had a mill close to the River Hull and later became associated with Rank Hovis. He went on to become one of the biggest names in British cinema, establishing the Rank Organisation, whose films began with a sequence showing a shirtless man striking a huge gong.
The sculpture is planned to be a deconstructed gong made up of nine large-scale segments. They will each rise from the platform in a series of arcs, ribbons and fractured planes, suggesting a tidal wave, a ship’s prow or a sound ripple caught in motion.
In a further connection that has inspired Annabel, one of Rank’s early film productions was Turn of the Tide, released in 1935 and centred on a Yorkshire fishing community.
Annabel said: “This commission feels like a real full-circle moment. Hull has been an important part of my career, from my early days at Hull Time Based Arts and working with the BBC, to Electric Fence for UK City of Culture 2017, my show at Humber Street Gallery and more recent work with Freedom Festival.
“It’s a privilege to create a sculpture for this particular location. Hull has shaped me and so many other artists over the years, and continues to support new talent. I want the sculpture to capture some of that energy, as well as the movement and change where the rivers meet.”
Artist Annabel McCourt has been selected from more than 70 applications to create a new permanent sculpture reflecting Hull’s links to the Rank Organisation and the Fruit Market’s location on Hull’s waterfront.(Image: R&R Studio.)
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The artwork has been commissioned and will be funded by Hull-based regeneration company Wykeland Group, which is based in the Fruit Market, the Brignall family, and Wykeland’s managing director, Dominic Gibbons. The budget for all elements of the commission, including artist fees, design, materials, fabrication, production and installation, is £72,500.
Wykeland has driven forward the transformation of the Fruit Market over recent years and developed, owns and operates the Stage @TheDock amphitheatre. The commission is part of Wykeland’s continuing commitment to culture and the arts, which has played a key role in the Fruit Market’s regeneration.
Wykeland was founded by entrepreneur and philanthropist the late Dr Jack Brignall MBE, and Wykeland and the Brignall family, through their charitable trust, have built on his legacy with long-standing support for Hull through a range of charitable, community and cultural projects. The new artwork is being dedicated to Jack and his late wife Beryl.
Mr Gibbons said: “This commission continues our commitment to supporting Hull’s cultural life and to putting the Fruit Market at the very heart of it. It will bring a significant new piece of public art to a very special part of the city.”
Sarah Brignall, one of Jack Brignall’s daughters, added: “I am proud to be involved in the project and the family are excited to support this ambitious new artwork which celebrates the spirit of the Fruit Market and of the city of Hull. Annabel’s creative concept has such a strong connection to Hull and we’re delighted to be helping to bring it to life.”
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