Back to the Cave: The Full Spectrum, Gallery Pangolin

In fact, art has never felt so raw, so real and deeply connected to the earth. Back to the Cave – The Full Spectrum is an enriching collaboration between Gallery Pangolin and the Wright family who own Clearwell Caves in the Forest of Dean, where mining natural clay earth pigment has taken place for more than 5,000 years.

The exhibition which began in May and runs until 31 August 2025 features 60 British and international artists who have transformed this historic iron mine into a vibrant display of colour, material and imagination. It builds on the tremendous success of the first sculpture show in these caves in 2022. Visited by some 18,000 people, Back to the Cave – Sculpture Goes Underground referenced the origins of art, and the primal shelters caves provided for humans and animals alike. STIK’s red ochre on limestone work, The Ochre Man, remains proudly in situ three years on. For 2025, land artist Julie Brook has added her permanent mark to the cave by carving a non-functional seam into the rock following the seams of iron.

Clearwell Cave owners the Wright Family (Heather, Wilfrid, Beatrix and Jonathan) (Image: Marsha Dunstan) I visit these fantastic caves a week before the installation of commissioned sculptures for 2025’s inventive display is fully in place. I have my own private tour from the curators themselves, Rungwe Kingdon and Claude Koenig. The fact I say ‘Wow’ a lot, says it all. There must be a better word, but I can’t think of one and every sculpture, so carefully placed in the caves’ winding tunnels and towering rock formations, fill me with child-like wonder. There are surprises, moments which allow you to pause to consider deeper meanings, and elements of humour which make you chuckle in appreciation.

‘We have tried to cover all the bases. There are pieces that will appeal to children and those who are learning about art, but at the same time it is a very serious art exhibition, so if you are a gallerist or museum curator from London, and you make the effort to come out here, there is loads to see,’ Rungwe, founder of Pangolin Editions, explains.

‘With a nod to the practice of mining ochre at Clearwell Caves, we felt an exploration of colour in this mysterious environment would be an exciting challenge. As always, the artists have responded with a diverse, fascinating, beautiful and rewarding set of sculptures.’

Ochre pigments in Clearwell Caves (Image: Marsha Dunstan) This is an exhibition that must be experienced. Being immersed inside these ancient caverns, witnessing the beauty of the rock’s naturally rich palette and tremendous artistic talent on show, viewers become part of Back to the Cave: The Full Spectrum. They are the living presence, moving through the cave gallery and adding their own individual vibrancy. Just as the sculptures echo their surrounding pigments, the audience’s reaction echoes round the chambers in orchestral appreciation to what they see and feel.

Just as spoilers can ruin the plot of a play, film or book, I don’t want to give too much away. I will say there is a visual feast and everyone – young or old – will go away with a standout masterpiece that touches them. Personally, among my favourites are Jon Buck’s stunning blue bell Taking the Toll, decorated with outlines of different endangered species, and his tiny cut-out bright yellow canary hidden in another part of the mine – a tribute to canaries who helped miners know if dangerous gases were present. Be prepared to be awestruck by Conrad Shawcross’ rotating hanging sculpture which is lit from within and shines like a diamond, filling the cave with glorious colour, as well as Daniel Chadwick’s fabulous kinetic purpose-built mobile depicting illuminous green bubbles left by the impressive blue whale he made in the last Pangolin cave exhibition. The blue whale swam off in 2022, but it has left its bubbles behind.

Susie MacMurray Paper and Earth Wax 2025. (Image: Steve Russell Studios) ‘A group of children were looking round the caves this week and as they came round the corner, they all shouted ‘wow’, and it echoed round the walls. They clearly enjoyed it,’ explains Claude, who together with Rungwe, has curated many shows including the successful Crucible exhibitions in Gloucester Cathedral.

So caught up am I in the exhibition that when Daniel Chadwick appears during my personal tour, it is as though he is a visible living sculpture. Under the fluorescent lights, he walks towards us in illuminous white. He is making the final touches to his sculpture, before the lake-size water pool below (drained to allow him to work) is refilled to bring greater depth to his incredible mobile as it reflects in the water. I ask him what it is like to install his work underground.

‘It’s ideal for these mobiles because it is a bit like working in outer space as oddly enough, you can’t see the structure. The structures are always a hindrance in a mobile as you are fighting gravity. You must make it as light as possible, but there are some things I would never show in daylight. I have made it specifically for the site. This is a complete one-off just for the duration of the show.’

Lynn Chadwick, Star V, 1966 and Teddy Boy and Girl, 1979 (Image: Steve Russell Studios) Son of the late Lynn Chadwick, who also has work in the show, Daniel joins several Cotswold artists who are represented, including Polly Morgan, Jon Buck, Ann Christopher, Colin Reid, Richard Jackson, Sally Fawkes, Abigail Fallis, Lorraine Robbins. Works from British and international modern and contemporary sculptors, include those of Monira Al Qadiri, Geoffrey Clarke, Maggi Hambling, Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas, Susie MacMurray, Tavares Strachan, Conrad Shawcross, Gavin Turk, and Liz West.

As directors of Pangolin Editions, Rungwe and Claude set up the charity Ruwenzori Sculpture Foundation in 2004 with Parabola Land Ltd. to enable cultural and educational exchanges between artists in Africa and the UK. It funds workshops, scholarships and specific projects as well as providing facilities, materials and training.

Isaac, Okwir, Turaco 2025 (Image: Steve Russell Studios) Some artists they have supported are part of this exhibition, including Isaac Okwir, who has made an exquisite pair of Turacos, brightly coloured, fruit-eating African birds. Their red and green colour is due to a special copper pigmentation, which is fitting for Pangolin’s current show.

‘Isaac suggested this knowing they had this unique pigment and we patinated the sculpture to mimic the colour of the bird. It is a very wonderful response. For our project in Uganda, where we have been reforesting the land, these Turaco birds came back from another forest and colonised our little forest and have now bred three times and we have a little family of them. So, it has a lot of meaning to him and the show.

Adventure in colour

This isn’t just an exhibition, it is an underground journey through history, nature, and imagination which embraces every theme touching human emotion. Every piece of work is a special chapter in this fascinating narrative which takes the viewer on an adventure in colour, from Damien Hirst’s arresting sculpture in black of Saint Bartholomew, one of the twelve apostles called ‘Saint Bartholomew, Exquisite Pain’, to a neon sign by Gavin Turk of a match being struck which marks the end of the 70-plus sculpture show.

Moritz Waldemeyer Ming, 2015 (Image: Steve Russell Studios) Hirst’s gripping figure poses a challenge. It almost asks cave adventurers to consider which faith lens they will view the exhibition through: religion, science or art, or all three perhaps?

Themes of bravery, war, extinction, survival, death, light, presence, loss, connection and remembrance bring depth, alongside the history of the caves themselves, which are etched with pick-axe marks from miners who once worked there.

As Rungwe admits: ‘It is a mix of history, of nature, of art, of atmosphere. It is a wonderful place to make an exhibition.’

It was Clearwell Cave owners Heather and Jonathan Wright and their grown-up children Wilfrid and Beatrix, who invited Gallery Pangolin to curate the first show in 2022. Jonathan’s family has been mining here for hundreds of years, and his father bought the cave in 1968, with the desire to open the space to the public.

Nigel Hall, Concavities. (Image: Steve Russell) ‘We had seen Pangolin’s Crucible exhibition and were so inspired, that we wanted to create something equally as wonderful in our space so people could see sculptures in a different light,’ explains Wilfrid.

‘I hope they see a different side to the mines as well as sculptures they have not seen before and maybe think about colour and materials in a different way. It is supposed to be an inspiring aesthetic experience.’

‘Dad has been mining ochre here since he was a teenager in the 1970s and has continued that tradition which goes back at least 4,500 years. We have found neolithic tools, and he still works seams the miners left behind,’ adds Wilfrid.

Jonathan is believed to be the last freeminer still producing ochre on a small scale, and Clearwell Caves are among the earliest – and the last – ochre mines in the British Isles.

Those visiting the caves in the summer season will certainly have an experience they will never forget.

Back to the Cave : The Full Spectrum, Beatrix Wright of Clearwell Caves in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, admiring work by Antony Gormley at an exhibition of modern and contemporary sculpture, curated by Rungwe Kingdon and Claude Koenig. (Image: Paul Nicholls Photography) Overcoming challenges

I meet the installation team as they embark on moving a heavy iron Antony Gormley sculpture into the depths. It has been no easy feat curating or placing such valuable pieces.

‘There is the access for one thing. Nothing is straight, it is very damp, the sculptures tend to condensate a lot. Moving very heavy, very delicate, very important sculptures in an environment like this with all the conditions has been challenging. But, having done it once, we were a bit wiser,’ admits Rungwe.

Maggi Hambling, Henrietta eating a meringue (Image: Steve Russell Studios) One sculpture by Maggi Hambling of Henrietta Eating a Meringue, is, as Rungwe describes of ‘enormous physicality.’

‘It is like taking the walls of the cave and making a solid of it, yet it has little caves inside of it. It was an incredible mission to get it in.’

Each sculpture will change while underground becoming crystalised like the cave itself by the very water in the air, once breathed in by the thousands of miners who once mined here. Just as the viewers are impacted by what they see and experience, so too are the very structures on show.

Back to the Cave – The Full Spectrum, takes the participant on a journey using colour as its thread, yet weaving together historic and current themes that impact us all.

Beatrix Wright of Clearwell Caves takes a closer look at work by Sarah Lucas (Image: Paul Nicholls Photography) ‘We wanted it to have a sense of adventure about it and want to help people get interested in sculpture. There will be people who will come because it is a cave, but will leave interested in art,’ says Rungwe.

‘What interests us is our ancestors made art in caves because they were special places. And to bring art back to the cave is something to reharness that specialness.’

It is indeed special on so many levels.

‘It has been very exciting to see how Claude and Rungwe have placed seventy sculptures in completely different places to those I would expect. When you see a sculpture on a rock next to a piece of machinery you see every day, it makes you see Clearwell Caves it in a different way,’ says co-owner Heather Wright.

This ambitious challenge to host a spectacular sculpture show has been achieved for the second time. So, Heather what’s next?

‘Watch this space.’

Do indeed watch this incredible space. This truly is an art exhibition that rocks on every level.

Back to the Cave: The Full Spectrum at Clearwell Caves is open until 31 August, 10am-5pm (last entry 4pm). Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. A special children’s fact-finding competition about the exhibits takes place during this time. An illustrated catalogue with photography by Steve Russell Studios will accompany the exhibition.

To coincide with Back to the Cave: The Full Spectrum, Gallery Pangolin, 9 Chalford Industrial Estate, Chalford, GL6 8NT, is presenting a range of smaller-scale more intimate artworks by the participating artists called Out of the Cave Above Ground. This show, which runs until 25 July, will also include some of the more memorable works from the previous Back to the Cave – Sculpture Goes Underground in 2022.

N.B. When visiting Clearwell Caves, do wear sensible footwear with a good grip and something warm as it is a constant 11 degrees no matter how hot it is outside.

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