Musician Jarvis Cocker and his wife, creative consultant Kim Sion, are set to curate a new art exhibition at the Hepworth Wakefield, opening in May 2027. Titled Hodge Podge, the exhibition aims to challenge conventional ideas of what art can be and encourage visitors to discover their own creativity.
The Hepworth Wakefield described the show as a personal selection of works that will invite "unlikely conversations and interesting encounters" between established artists like Jeremy Deller, Peter Doig, Barbara Hepworth, Klara Kristalova, Emma Kunz, Mark Leckey, and Agnes Pelton, alongside unknown outsider and visionary artists never before exhibited in UK public museums.
"We've chosen works that have stuck with us over the years," Cocker told the Guardian. "We're trying to encourage people to realise that they have creativity within them."
The museum noted that the exhibition reflects the couple's interest in alternative means of expression, class dynamics, and how communities come together outside religious or elite settings. Cocker emphasised the importance of creative expression, especially in challenging times. "When the outside world seems to be becoming a not very nice place, it's important to realise that you are capable of doing things. You don't have to be a consumer all the time. It's important to be a creator as well."
He added: "There's no other alternative being espoused except capitalism. And capitalism is all about consuming things and buying things. That's how you prove your worth as a citizen. But we weren't born as capitalists, we were born as creative creatures. We're trying to take people back to the Garden of Eden, basically."
The exhibition will explore alternative spiritualities, psychedelia, fandom, dreams, poetry, and music. It will also feature an immersive Dreamachine, a flickering light device co-invented by Brion Gysin and Ian Sommerville in 1959, designed to induce vivid visual patterns and altered states of consciousness when viewed with closed eyes. "Everybody sees different things," Cocker said, referencing Gysin's experience in a car that inspired the device.
In the Hodge Podge Manifesto, the couple trace the term's origin to the 15th-century Middle English-French phrase hochepot, meaning a stew made of many ingredients. They draw a parallel to bower birds, which decorate their nests for fun—an activity unique to them and humans. "The Hodge Podge begins with a nest," they write.
Sion reflected on the couple's long-standing connection: "When we met 18 years ago, our first conversation was about living in the moment and being true to yourself. It's such a big part of us. So it's wonderful to be able to express that." She hopes many children and young people will visit, recalling her own childhood experiences at art exhibitions with her father.
Laura Smith, artistic director of the Hepworth Wakefield, praised Cocker's long-held interest in art, noting his time at St Martin's College of Art and Design in the early 1990s. "As a Yorkshireman, he felt like the ideal person to work with to consider a fresh way of thinking about and experiencing art. The art that he and Kim have gathered together in the Hodge Podge will encourage the feelings of joy, marvel, and curiosity that great works of art can inspire and offer our audiences an expanded idea of creativity and community."
