Reality questioned

This exhibition at the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery brings together the work of several well known British artists from the early 20th century and a contemporary work by Tala Madani. The artists include Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson, and John Nash and the exhibition considers their engagement with reality. It also looks at their influences and how they experimented with abstraction and illusion. I was particularly drawn to Barbara Hepworth’s 1948 work ‘The hands’ which depicts medical staff about to undertake an operation and was inspired by Hepworth’s time in hospital when her daughter underwent surgery. I love its meditative quality and the emphasis on the serenity and calmness of the hands held as if in prayer.