Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire and Hignell Gallery are proud to present a major new collaboration exhibiting the works of with internationally acclaimed British sculptor Sophie Ryder, bringing six of her celebrated bronze sculptures into the lavish grounds of the hotel. It marks the first collaboration of its kind for Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire with a major contemporary artist, creating a striking meeting of art, landscape and luxury hospitality.
The largest of the bronzes standing at over five meters high and 7 meters wide Dancing Hares, is positioned prominently in front of the hotel. The monumental bronze trio will form a new focal point on arrival, their dynamic movement set against the architecture and extensive landscape of the estate. The choice of hares has a particular resonance as these elusive wild animals are often sighted here.
Ryder is one of Britain’s most celebrated contemporary sculptors, internationally recognised for her monumental hares and mythical hybrids.
Ryder was the youngest student after JMW Turner to be admitted to the Royal Academy of Arts Schools in London at just 17 and is now one of the UK’s most important artists. Her works combine humour and humanity with an extraordinary sense of scale and craftsmanship, making bronze sculptures that are both playful and enduring. This installation will also feature Black Dogs and four of her seminal Ladyhare sculpture series, with the head of a hare and the body of a woman, based on the artists own. Her anthropomorphic characters explore the human condition and are a metaphor for Ryder’s own feelings. Creatures emerge intuitively from her imagination and acquire timeless emotional and symbolic identities of their own.
Their arrival at Four Seasons Hampshire is particularly apt. Set within an exceptional English country estate and within easy reach of London, the property brings together British heritage and contemporary culture. Located on 500 acres of rolling meadows only one hour from central London and 35 minutes from Heathrow Airport, for Four Seasons Hampshire, the collaboration with Sophie Ryder signals an expanded commitment to art and culture, while offering guests the opportunity to experience the work of a significant living British artist in an unusually immersive setting.
