Caruso St John have designed an exhibition of sculpture by Alberto Giacometti, Bruce Nauman and Pablo Picasso for Gagosian's Grosvenor Hill gallery.
Radical investigations of the human body and how we perceive it characterize the distinct sculptural practices of Giacometti, Nauman, and Picasso, who are widely regarded as defining figures of their respective generations. From the modernist preoccupation with the fragmented or disintegrated body typical of Picasso’s and Giacometti’s work to the postmodern expansion of sculpture into a range of environmental and anti-monumental forms exemplified by Nauman’s, this is the first exhibition to juxtapose sculptures by these three artists. It features classic pieces by all three, including Picasso’s La femme enceinte I (1950) and Bras vertical (1961), Giacometti’s La jambe (1958) and Grande tête (1960), and Nauman’s Henry Moore Bound to Fail (1967/1970) and Model for Room with My Soul Left Out, Room That Does Not Care (1984).
Giacometti, Nauman, and Picasso have all redefined sculpture—reshaping traditional mediums and pioneering new ones. Picasso’s groundbreaking move away from a naturalistic representation of the human form was extended by Giacometti, whose elongated, modeled, and cast figures draw attention to material and process, while evoking the artist’s struggle to capture a living, breathing presence in three dimensions. Nauman often uses his own body as subject, and encourages the viewer to become an involved participant. For all three artists, the space we occupy, the ways we are perceived, and our effect on others are crucial elements in their unique methods of existential inquiry.
The exhibition is curated by Richard Calvocoressi and is on view at Gagosian Grosvenor Hill from June 6 to July 26, 2024.
Image: Artwork, front, centre middle, back left: © Succession Alberto Giacometti/DACS 2024; middle left, back centre, and back right: ©Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024; and middle right: © 2024 Bruce Nauman/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York and DACS. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd.
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