International artists Polly Apfelbaum (US), Nancy Holt (US), Lee Ufan (South Korea), Yayoi Kusama (Japan), Hélio Oiticica (Brazil), and Eva Rothschild (Ireland) will feature in the Goodwood Art Foundation annual summer season opening on 2 May 2026 and running until 1 November 2026.
The programme, presented in partnership with Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, will bring together over 50 works, encompassing sculpture, installation, ceramics, textiles, photography, film, prints and drawings, displayed within the Foundation’s two galleries and restaurant, 24, and across its 70-acre landscape.
The summer season is anchored by the first major UK exhibition dedicated to the celebrated American artist, Nancy Holt (1938–2014), titled ‘MoonSunStarEarthSkyWater’. Holt’s practice spanned more than four decades and explored human experience in relation to cosmic and natural systems. Inside The Gallery a selection of photographic works, drawings and concrete poetry will be shown alongside installations and films, including Sun Tunnels (1978), illuminating the ideas behind the artist’s renowned contribution to land art. Major new iterations of her influential site-responsive installations will be realised according to the artist’s instructions, in collaboration with Holt/Smithson Foundation, extending beyond the walls of the gallery space into the surrounding landscape. The first posthumous installation of Hydra’s Head (1974) – an earthwork formed of six pools of water positioned according to the Hydra constellation – will be presented within the Foundation’s chalk quarry, where the pools will reflect the changing skies above.
Irish artist Eva Rothschild (b. 1971) will unveil an important new commission, a large-scale tapestry woven locally at West Dean College’s Tapestry Studio, in the Foundation’s Pigott Gallery. Sculptures by the artist will be featured both within the gallery and across the landscape, demonstrating the breadth of her visual language using a wide range of materials in a series of signature colours. In 2009, Rothschild was awarded the prestigious Duveens Commission at Tate Britain and represented Ireland at the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019. In 2023 she was commissioned to create two major tapestries for the new theatre at Sadler’s Wells East, also woven at West Dean.
The New York based artist, Polly Apfelbaum (b. 1955), who is celebrated internationally for her multidisciplinary approach exploring colour, pattern and texture, will present a selection of glazed ceramics and works on paper in the atrium and walls of the Foundation’s restaurant, 24. Renowned for her installations of textiles, ceramics and drawings framed by the legacy of both post-war art and popular culture, she blurs the lines between painting, sculpture and installation while challenging the boundaries between art and craft. Among the many awards the artist has received, she is the recipient of a 2026 grant from the Pollock Krasner Foundation.
A recent outdoor sculpture by one of the world’s most prominent artists, Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929), whose oeuvre has transcended the twentieth century’s movements of pop art and minimalism, will be shown in the South Downs for the first time. An iconic example of Kusama’s massive sculptural forms will showcase her lifelong exploration of infinity through repetitive forms and polka dots.
Awarded the UNESCO prize in 2000 and the Praemium Imperiale for painting in 2001, South Korean painter, sculptor, writer and philosopher Lee Ufan (b. 1936) came to prominence as a major figure in the Tokyo-based Mono-ha movement in the 1960s. Within the Foundation’s landscape, a large-scale sculpture from Ufan’s Relatum series will embody his minimalist philosophy, focussing on material relationships and spatial perceptions. In creating a dialogue between physical materials in space, he challenges Western materialism by shifting art’s status from static object to an experience of encounter.
The first outdoor sculpture by Hélio Oiticica (1937-1980) to be unveiled in Europe, as part of the year-long UK/Brazil Season of Culture 2025-2026, Magic Square #3 (1977-79/2025) has been meticulously constructed at Goodwood Art Foundation according to the late artist’s instructions. A highly influential figure in 20th century art, Oiticica is known for his innovative exploration of colour and works from his participatory ‘Magic Square’ series (developed between 1977 and 1979) are monumental embodiments of these investigations.
Across the Schwarzman Gardens, designed by the award-winning landscape designer Dan Pearson, outdoor installations will also include the ongoing display of works by Rachel Whiteread, Susan Philipsz, Rose Wylie and Isamu Noguchi, and the relocation of a selection of soapstone sculptures by Solange Pessoa first featured in the Foundation’s winter exhibition, ERASURE.
I am delighted that an extended range of outstanding contemporary art will be presented in the second summer season at Goodwood Art Foundation, with important new exhibitions and major new installations within the landscape. We are honoured to host the first major UK presentation of Nancy Holt’s work within and beyond The Gallery, as well as a new commission and multiple sculptures by Eva Rothschild and a focus on Polly Apfelbaum. Major works by Hélio Oiticica, Yayoi Kusama and Lee Ufan will greatly enhance the experience of audiences exploring the landscape, in addition to exceptional works unveiled in the 2025 season.”
Ann Gallagher, Consultant Curator
In its inaugural year Goodwood Art Foundation welcomed its first visitors for a thrilling summer season headlined by Rachel Whiteread, and launched a powerful learning programme that has already seen many hundreds of schoolchildren engaging with art in a natural environment. Now, with the support of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, we are delighted to announce our second summer art programme, featuring a further selection of the world’s leading contemporary artists.”
The Duke of Richmond and Gordon, CBE, DL
Find more information on Goodwood Art Foundation here.
