Exhibition
Garth Evans: The Anti-Virus Sculptures
22 May-4 Oct 2026
Leeds Art Gallery
Leeds LS1 3AA
Garth Evans, Hatch, 2023, Hydrocal plaster. Credit: Courtesy the artist
Overview
British sculptor Garth Evans (b.1934) began the Anti-Virus Sculptures during the first Covid lockdown in his home in Connecticut, USA. Curated by Sam Cornish, this is the first solo exhibition dedicated to these small-scale plaster sculptures.
Playfulness is interlaced with disquiet and ambiguity, and the man-made meets the organic. Fifty from the still on-going series will be exhibited in Leeds.
Evans has said of the series: "It was a very uncertain time, and we did not know if it would end. I had this fantasy that I could create an army of sculptures that could somehow protect the world or at least protect me. And in a way, they did protect me. They kept me sane, and I am still here."
Evans names each sculpture, responding to the mood or personality they seem to project. There will be an opportunity for visitors to the exhibition in Leeds to suggest titles for as yet unnamed sculptures.
Evans's work also features in 'Some Steel: Sculpture and Steel in Britain, 1960 - 1990' which runs until 10 January 2027 in the Archive Gallery.