Figures of deities fused from several traditions and the artist’s personal cosmology are reimagined at a monumental scale at Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Apollo
This summer, Yorkshire Sculpture Park hosts the largest exhibition in the UK to date of work by Bharti Kher, with sculpture made between 2000–24 spread throughout its galleries and the surrounding landscape (until 27 April 2025). Indoors, there are abstract sculptures made from repurposed materials (radiators, mirrors, saris) and figures evoking mythological themes, while outside, large bronzes from Kher’s TheIntermediaries series draw from South Indian golu dolls: figurines depicting deities, animals or people that are often displayed in homes during the Hindu festival of Navaratri. In this series, Kher slices and splices these statuettes into new and unexpected configurations – here they are reimagined at a monumental scale. The largest and most abstract of these bronzes, Djinn (2022), towers above the garden at five metres high, while Ancestor (2022) depicts the heads of 23 children emerging from a woman’s body.