Join us ‘in conversation’ with Bill Woodrow and A Level art students from Woodroffe School, discussing the artist’s practice and his disparate, yet harmonious sculpture ‘Endeavour’ on display at the entrance of Roche Court Sculpture Park.
From afar, Endeavour resembles the black silhouette of a war weapon set against a patchwork quilt of expansive fields. The sculpture faces away from Roche, poised ready to launch explosives over the roaming cows. Its placement at the entrance of the park, next to Peter Randall-Page’s ‘Fructus’, is largely uncanny and yet, upon closer inspection of Woodrow’s work, its placement is rather fitting.
More than simply a cannon, Endeavour is a rich tapestry of incongruous iconography. The wheels are composed of splayed open books, chunks of cheese and even a drum. The cannon is in fact a tree trunk and underneath, a wolf or dragon plays an accordion. In 1996, Woodrow said “There isn't one reading to any of the works for myself, so I don't expect it to be so for other people" (in conversation with Keith Patrick, 1996). In other words, Endeavour has multiple meanings: the bond that ties each component together is up to the individual viewer.
Woodrow's work is held in numerous public and private collections including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA, and the Rijksmuseum, Netherlands. He has received several honorary distinctions during his career including: representing Britain at the Biennales of Sidney, Paris and Sao Paulo, he was a finalist in the Turner Prize at the Tate Gallery in London in 1986; and a trustee of the Tate Galleries for 5 years. The artist also created 'Regardless of History' for the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square in 2000.
For more information, please visit www.billwoodrow.com
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Thanks to: Dan Coggins and Zach James for co-producing this episode. Thanks also to the New Art Centre and finally, Bill Woodrow, for generously giving up his time.
Funded by RSA Catalyst Seed Award and The Arts Society Wessex.
Image: Bill Woodrow, Endeavour, 1994, copyright Bill Woodrow and New Art Centre.