Crucible exhibition at Gloucester Cathedral

After a tip off from a colleague Stephen and I headed down to Gloucester Cathedral a couple of weeks ago to see the sculpture exhibition that was taking place there. Despite Gloucester being only about 30 minutes away we hadn't been there since a visit about 16 years ago when we first moved down and made the mistake of going there as opposed to its near neighbour Cheltenham. Unlike Cheltenham, its not a Regency delight and shopping mecca...

The Cathedral turned out to be worth a visit, and the sculpture exhibition was just amazing. Amongst the many, many pieces on show was an Antony Gormley (the artist who created the Angel of the North and "Stockie") and a Damien Hirst. The only other Hirst piece I've actually seen in the flesh, so to speak, was in New York and it featured a shark and a large tank of formaldehyde. I'm sure it is a masterpiece of creative genius, but it does leave you with the little nagging thought at the back of your brain that given access to a shark and a large tank of formaldehyde "I could do that". I was therefore blown away by the Hirst piece that was on show. It was a remarkable bronze sculpture of the Exquisite Pain of St Bartholomew, showing the saint brandishing a pair of scissors with his skin draped over his arm. It was disturbing, detailed and beautiful.






 The Hirst drew much attention

A female figure haunts the Cloisters



I sat for 5 minutes on the cold, damp stone floor trying to get a good shot.
Low light, no tripod and camera shake due to the cold seeping into my bones made it challenging! 

The was stunning when the sun came out and shone through the glass and lit up the figure.

A more complete view of the Antony Gormley sculpture 

A very interesting fishy!