24 July - 25 September 2021

FIELD FOR THE BRITISH ISLES is the largest single artwork in the Arts Council Collection and is on display at the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art (NGCA) at National Glass Centre in Sunderland. 

The monumental installation comprises 40,000 small clay figures and was first was made by Antony Gormley in 1993 from a mountain of brick clay with over 100 volunteers. They were invited to find their own form for each figure following three simple instructions: "hand-sized, stand up and have eyes". 

After being acquired by the Arts Council Collection in 1995, FIELD FOR THE BRITISH ISLES has been exhibited at a variety of venues across the UK. It was last in the region 25 years ago when it was on display at the former Greenesfield British Rail Works in Gateshead. At each location, the configuration of FIELD is changed to suit the space, but the thousands of small figures are always installed to resemble a dense carpet, with each figure looking directly at the viewer. 

A corresponding exhibition of Antony Gormley's Earth Drawings is on display at Sunderland Musuem and Winter Gardens, 24 July - 25 September 2021.