Kes 50 Project – Patrick Murphy Studio

Kes 50 Project

During the course of 2018/19 artists, Patrick Murphy and Anton Want collaborated to create a collection of artworks that celebrated the work of Barry Hines. This marked the 50th anniversaries of both the book, ‘A Kestrel for a Knave’ and subsequent film, ‘Kes’.

Working within the same South Yorkshire communities and landscapes which informed Hines’ rich, descriptive writing and deep understanding of people and place, the artists engaged with the universal themes raised in his work to present a contemporary interpretation of a changing social landscape.

The artworks appeared in various public locations and included a book drop of ‘A Kestrel for a Knave’, please see the BBC news coverage below.

Information:

Commission: Kes 50
Place: Hoyland
Year: 2018
Activity: Artist Commission

Set of 8 KES 50 badges, stickers and temporary tattoos were created to be given away with the book drop

Finished books ready to be distributed

KES 50 Foil Blocked Anniversary Card were given away with every book

The books were dropped in Hoyland at key locations

BMBC Council supported the project by creating the KES 50 artwork in their Town Hall gardens

Creation of Kes 50 Land Art

This large scale land art installation was commissioned to be part of the Tour de Yorkshire cycle race, the race route came through Barry Hines hometown of Hoyland in Barnsley. It seemed perfect to celebrate Barry’s work with a piece of land art that could be clearly seen when the event was broadcast on TV and the local community could see the work take shape over three days. The below images show the installation take shape with the assistance of the local community and volunteers.

The outline shape of the kestrel was created by Patrick for the wider Kes 50 project and book drop

Artists and community volunteers help create the artwork

The finished piece created a striking graphic representation of the original design

Media coverage

The above film helps show the scale of the finished land art.

The above features coverage of the Tour de Yorkshire race on route past the Kes 50 land art