Having wanted to visit Hauser & Wirth Somerset for quite some time, I finally made the trip to Durslade Farm on a fine autumnal day back in November.
The 18th century farm has been fully renovated to house gallery spaces, a bar and restaurant and guestrooms. It also features an award-winning garden designed by Piet Oudolf, the Dutch landscape designer whose previous projects include the Serpentine Gallery gardens and the High Line in New York.
Centred around a core belief in conservation, education and sustainability, the site hosts a variety of events including talks, seminars, workshops and screenings, as well as learning programmes for local schools, young people and families. The complex is a beautiful combination of old and new: rusty wood and stone, contrasts with sleek shiny glass and steel. Everything seemed to glow in the soft afternoon light.
At the time of visit, two Louise Bourgeois exhibitions were showing in the gallery spaces. ‘Turning Inwards’, a series of 38 soft-ground etchings made between 2006 and 2010, displayed together for the first time along with a selection of her sculptures. And a second exhibition ‘Mumbling Beauty’ presented a collection of Bourgeois' portraits taken by Alex Van Gelder in the final years of his life.
A magical day spent in the countryside that left me inspired and invigorated.