This catalogue of almost 70 twentieth- and twenty-first century sculptures records an exhibition which took place in Clearwell Caves, Gloucestershire from May to August 2025. That exhibition followed on from a similar show held in the Caves in 2022. The earlier event was likewise a triumphant display of sculptures in an extraordinary underground space – or rather spaces. The Caves are enormously evocative ochre caves with a centuries-long history of the mining of this mineral. The geological surroundings strangely and creatively complement the modern works of art nestling within the nooks and crannies created by the mining.

This year the theme of the exhibition was colour, and sculptors’ works were selected with this in mind, their bright hues, assisted by carefully curated electric lighting, shining out from within the irregular and often dark shadows. The illustrations in the catalogue show this range of colourful and surprising contexts. Visitors had to wear stout shoes and navigate slopes and uneven surfaces, physically aware of their surroundings, as much as the works of art they were viewing. Again, the beautifully illustrated catalogue indirectly evokes this unorthodox context. These highly unusual displays suggest that the convention of displaying modern works of art in a white cube is far from the only way of showing them to their best advantage.

The catalogue includes work by dozens of leading practitioners, including Antony Gormley, Damien Hirst, Daniel Chadwick and William Tucker. As noted above, each sculpture is sensitively illustrated.  Brief biographies of the artists are given, as well as the vital statistics of each sculpture. Materials range from cast iron to bronze, steel, aluminium and glass. The catalogue is not only a visual feast, but a useful handbook of this period of sculpture. Wilfrid Wright’s entries are exemplary, and the foreword by Rungwe Kingdon summarises the range and achievement of all these artists. We can but hope that a third such exhibition will be held in the Caves before too long.