Emily Hesse: The Witches’ Institution (W.I.)

  • 27 May – 18 Sep 2022
  • Wednesday – Sunday, 10am–5pm
  • Atrium & Galleries 1–8, First Floor Galleries, The Tetley
  • Free entry

The Witches’ Institution (W.I.) is an exhibition by artist Emily Hesse, imagined and developed in collaboration with organiser and writer Andrea Phillips.

The exhibition is envisioned as an exercise in world building, aiming to imagine what a cultural institution run by witches could be.

Clay acts as a key material for The W.I. As well as working with clay as both Earth matter and craft material, Hesse sees her sculptural practice as an expanded shaping of thoughts, histories and alternative futures. She uses the concept of magical materialism to produce objects, installations, diagrams and stories.

Hesse’s work is deeply rooted in radical narratives of the North Yorkshire landscape and the way it has been occupied through processes of oppression and possessive violence, where people, animals and objects stand accused of and marked by violence in the struggle for freedom (that of our bodies, our intellects, our ways of life, our genders).

Bringing together Hesse’s sculpture, curatorial practice and PhD research at the Belfast School of Art, Ulster University, The W.I. also includes work by artists Ana Mendieta and The Otolith Group.

Emily Hesse: The Witches’ Institution (W.I.) is part of The Tetley Jerwood Commissions programme, supported by Jerwood Arts’ Development Programme Fund

 

Watch our interview with the artists

Emily Hesse: The Witches’ Institution (W.I.)
Emily Hesse, CLÆG, 2022 and Alternative Sky, 2022. Installation view at The Tetley, 2022. Photo: Jules Lister
A polished sphere of clay in a tripod of metal rods, carved with symbols
Emily Hesse, Visioning Ball, 2022. Installation view at The Tetley, 2022. Photo: Jules Lister
A collection of images and objects displayed in a vitrine
Emily Hesse, Ontosis: a methodology, 2021-22 (detail). Installation view at The Tetley, 2022. Photo: Jules Lister
Emily Hesse: The Witches’ Institution (W.I.)
Emily Hesse, Keld Hare, 2022. Installation view at The Tetley, 2022. Photo: Jules Lister
Emily Hesse: The Witches’ Institution (W.I.)
Emily Hesse, Kissing the Bees, 2019. Installation view at The Tetley, 2022. Photo: Jules Lister

Access

  • The exhibition is located on our First Floor.
  • Our lift is currently out of service, meaning there is no lift access to our galleries on our First Floor.
  • Film works are not captioned.
  • A transcript is available of the audio in Keld Hare.
  • Please call us on 0113 320 2323 or email info@yorkshire-contemporary.local if you have any specific questions about access.

For more information about visiting The Tetley, click here.

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