Elisabeth Frink: Sculptures dealing with timeless issues

With multiple exhibitions about Elisabeth Frink taking place, William Cook revisits her story and examines what drew him to her work in the first place

Frink working on her ‘Risen Christ’ sculpture in 1993 (Mick Csaky)

In a beautiful medieval tithe barn, in the heart of the Wiltshire countryside, gallerist Johnny Messum and his colleague Hannah Hooks are showing me around their new show, devoted to the late British sculptor Elisabeth Frink. The exhibition, titled Man is an Animal, opened in Bremen, Germany, last autumn and was due to travel on to the Netherlands, but that transfer was curtailed by Covid. When he heard about the cancellation, Johnny Messum acquired this sublime show for his gallery, Messums Wiltshire, just down the road from Frink’s old home and studio. The Netherlands’ loss has been Britain’s gain.

When I arrive, her sculptures have only just been installed, but it feels as if they’ve always been here; as if they were made for this ancient space. Frink’s heyday was the 1960s, 70s and 80s, but her work never seemed contemporary, even in her lifetime. It felt primeval, elemental – closer to antiquity than to modern art. I’ve seen Frink’s work all around the country and I’ve always loved it, but this 700-year-old building is the place where it feels most at home. “These figures could be from aeons ago,” says Messum. “You feel like you’re merging different levels of time here.”

“That’s why these works still resonate today, because they are essentially dealing with timeless issues,” concurs Hooks. “They’re dealing with human emotion.”