Exhibition
Ebb & Flow: Bookworks by Yoko Terauchi from the Research Library
Henry Moore Institute, Leeds
Free Entry
Free Entry
About the exhibition
This display focuses on bookworks by Japanese artist Yoko Terauchi (b.1954), which explore interior and exterior as a continuous plane.
The Sculpture Research Library on the first floor of Henry Moore Institute holds over 30,000 books, catalogues, journals and audio-visual materials dedicated to sculpture. Among them, artists’ books – conceived as artworks in their own right – form a distinctive and growing part of the collection, often developed through close collaboration between artists and curators.
Terauchi works primarily with paper, across installations and bookworks, questioning fixed ways of seeing and categorising.
Five of her rare book works from our collection are presented in this display, alongside photographs of related installations (1983–2024). In these works, the book becomes an expanded sculptural form, collapsing distinctions between object, image and page.
Highlights include Terra 1984, in which cut drawings are made by slicing through layered sheets of paper and transferring pigment to create corresponding ‘shadow’ images, and Ebb & Flow 1988, a concertina work torn to reveal the inner structure of the paper and painted red on one side and blue on the other. With no fixed beginning or end, it challenges binary distinctions such as inside and outside, or more and less. As Terauchi reflects, such oppositions “might look different depending on where you are and who you are”.
Other works on display include Coil / Join 1994, Cuckoo 1992 and One 2012. These works were published with Coracle Press, the influential Camberwell-based imprint founded by Simon Cutts, which worked closely with artists associated with New British Sculpture.
About the artist
Yoko Terauchi was born in 1954 in Tokyo, Japan. She studied at the Department of Art and Design at Women’s Art University in Japan, completing her degree in 1977 and Graduate School in 1978. Terauchi then moved to London where she studied the Advanced Course in Sculpture course at Saint Martin’s School of Art between 1979 and 1981.
Terauchi has since continued to exhibit regularly in the UK and internationally, including in Japan where she returned to live. Her practice consists predominantly of sculptural installations and book works. She was a professor at Aichi University of the Arts, Tokyo.
In 1984 Yoko Terauchi spent a week in Leeds, UK, making a new piece of sculpture in Leeds Art Gallery. Terauchi made the new work publicly in the gallery space, interacting with visitors and school groups throughout the week who were able to ask questions about her working process. During this time she produced the work Hot Line 19, part of a series of works she made using industrial English telephone cables, and Cut Drawing 1, the first of a series of works on paper.
About the research library
The Sculpture Research Library is part of Henry Moore Institute in Leeds and offers unparalleled access to material on sculpture. We welcome readers to explore this unique reference resource and study sculpture in our beautiful reading rooms.
The research library contains over 30,000 books, catalogues, journals and audio-visual materials with a particularly strong focus on British sculpture.
The library has a unique growing collection of artists’ books, all of which explore sculptural themes in some way. Items in the collection include hand-made limited editions, conceptional works, bookworks by land artists and sculptural items exploring the format of the book. Our collection of artists’ books continues to grow, with new items by contemporary artists added every year.
In the library, commercially produced artists’ books sit alongside biographies of sculptors, exhibition catalogues and theory and criticism of sculpture. Encountering an artist’s book within this context is a uniquely rewarding experience, allowing direct engagement with a work of art beyond the gallery. Visitors are welcome to browse the library’s collections in the reading rooms free of charge and can request items from special collections in advance.
Access information
Step-free access
Our accessible entrance is on Cookridge Street, with a lift (doors 100cm wide) bringing you onto the ground floor of the building. There…
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Step-free access
Our accessible entrance is on Cookridge Street, with a lift (doors 100cm wide) bringing you onto the ground floor of the building.
There is an internal passenger lift (doors 72cm wide) to all floors of the building.
Braille & large print
Braille and large print versions of descriptive text about our exhibitions are available at the welcome desk.
Audio guide
We produce audio guides with descriptions of the artworks in our exhibitions. Due to some exhibitions having many artworks, we can’t guarantee that…
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Audio guide
We produce audio guides with descriptions of the artworks in our exhibitions. Due to some exhibitions having many artworks, we can’t guarantee that there will be audio descriptions for all the works on display.
You can pick up a handheld audio player and headphones outside the sculpture galleries, or use your own device by scanning the QR codes next to the artworks.
Induction loops
There are induction loops at the welcome desk on the ground floor, library reception and in the seminar room. There is a portable…
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Induction loops
There are induction loops at the welcome desk on the ground floor, library reception and in the seminar room.
There is a portable induction loop available for visitors to use in the galleries (please ask at the welcome desk).
Seating
Seating is always available in our shop and welcome area. You can also pick up a portable seat here to take with you…
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Seating
Seating is always available in our shop and welcome area. You can also pick up a portable seat here to take with you in the galleries.
While we try to always include seating in our exhibition spaces, due to the changing nature of our exhibitions we cannot always guarantee this.
Quiet space
There is a quiet space available in a room off from The Studio on the second floor of the building. Please ask a…
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Quiet space
There is a quiet space available in a room off from The Studio on the second floor of the building. Please ask a member of staff if you would like to use this space at any time during your visit.
Quiet times to visit
If you’d prefer a quieter, more relaxed visit, then we recommend visiting on a Tuesday between 10:00 and 12:00. Occasionally we have school…
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Quiet times to visit
If you’d prefer a quieter, more relaxed visit, then we recommend visiting on a Tuesday between 10:00 and 12:00.
Occasionally we have school groups booked to visit then, so feel free to contact us beforehand to check if that is the case when you are planning to visit.
T: 01132 467 467
E: institute@henry-moore.org
Toilets
Outside the seminar room on the basement level we have three gender-neutral superloos (self-contained cubicles with a toilet and sink). Additionally, there is…
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Toilets
Outside the seminar room on the basement level we have three gender-neutral superloos (self-contained cubicles with a toilet and sink).
Additionally, there is one gender-neutral, accessible superloo, and one superloo with baby changing facilities.
The closest Changing Places toilet is located in Leeds City Museum, which is approximately a 350m walk from us over a mostly flat and pedestrianised route, with one pelican crossing. See here for Leeds City Museum opening times and contact details.
Guide dogs
Guide dogs, hearing dogs and other badged assistance dogs are welcome in our galleries and at our events. There is a small grassy…
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Guide dogs
Guide dogs, hearing dogs and other badged assistance dogs are welcome in our galleries and at our events.
There is a small grassy area just outside the Institute, suitable for spending. The nearest larger green space is Park Square.
A water bowl for dogs is available, please ask a member of staff at the welcome desk who will fetch it for you.
If you would like to talk to us about any access concerns before your visit, you can email us at institute@henry-moore.org, or call us on 01132 467 467.
Getting here
Henry Moore Institute
74 The Headrow
Leeds
LS1 3AH
United Kingdom
T: 01132 467 467
E: institute@henry-moore.org
