Gagosian Grosvenor Hill The Body as Matter: Giacometti Nauman Picasso

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.

Related news

Exhibition

Visions of the Self:
Rembrandt and Now

Gagosian Gallery Grosvenor Hill, London, United Kingdom

12 April-18 May 2019

gagosian.com

Visions of the Self: Rembrandt and Now, the exhibition designed by Caruso St John is open at Gagosian Gallery Grosvenor Hill.

Read more

Opening

Gagosian Gallery Grosvenor Hill

London, United Kingdom

The new Gagosian Gallery in Mayfair opens to the public today. The gallery opens with an exhibition of paintings, sculptures and works on paper by Cy Twombly.

Prize & ceremony

Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens
Hospitalfield

Treviso, Italy

Saturday 9th May

fbsr.it

Hospitalfield is awarded the 34th International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens, 2025-2026, a prize awarded to a place with the capacity to transmit natural, historical and cultural values, devised and organised by the Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche, and named in honour of Carlo Scarpa (1906-1978), the architect and creator of gardens. There will be a public ceremony in Treviso to celebrate the prize.

Read more

Book launch & talk, London

Collected Works: Volume 3, 2010-2020
Adam Caruso & Valerie Verhack

WIELS, Brussels

18:30 Thursday 23 April 2026

mackbooks.co.uk

Adam Caruso will be in conversation with curator Valerie Verhack, at WIELS in Brussels, to celebrate the release of the book Collected Works: Volume 3 2010–2020published by MACK Books.

Read more

Book launch & talk, Berlin

Collected Works: Volume 3, 2010-2020
Thomas Demand & Adam Caruso

Buchhandlung Walther König, Berlin

19:00 CET 10th April 2026

mackbooks.eu

Adam Caruso will be in conversation with artist Thomas Demand at the Buchhandlung Walther König an der Museumsinsel in Berlin, to celebrate the release of Collected Works: Volume 3 2010–2020. Free to attend.

Read more

Phase 2 of our Masterplan for Hospitafields Arts, the Studios, have been shortlisted for the RIAS Awards in Scotland. This phase focuses on the more private areas of the site, creating studios and workshops with excellent access. Centred on the Rear Yard, this phase includes the renovation of the 1901 studios, conservation of the 1845 Patrick Allan-Fraser Studio, refurbishment of the Drawing School, and construction of a new studio building.

Read more

Royal Belge has been shortlisted for the RIBA International Awards. Selecting projects from five continents, the award recognizes a broad range of designs addressing global challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity, social equity, and rapid urbanization.

Our Royal Belge project is praised for its adaptive reuse strategies, extending the life of a modernist icon. The jury will visit the projects in the coming month.

Read more

Book launch & talk, London

Collected Works: Volume 3, 2010-2020
Adam Caruso, Peter St John & Owen Hatherley

ICA, London (sold out)

18:30 26th March 2026

ica.art

Adam Caruso and Peter St John will be in conversation with Owen Hatherley at the ICA in London, to celebrate the release of the book Collected Works: Volume 3 2010–2020published by MACK Books. Tickets for the event are now sold out.

Read more

Exhibition and event

Tendenzen at 50
Panel Discussion at ETH Zurich

gta exhibitions, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

25.03.2026

ausstellungen.arch.ethz.ch

Fifty years after the landmark 1975 Tendenzen exhibition at ETH Zurich - which first brought the Ticino architectural movement to international attention - Tendenzen at 50 revisits the original event through archival research, unpublished materials, and new photography to examine how it shaped architectural discourse and why it remains relevant today.

As part of the exhibition's public events programme, a panel discussion will take place on Wednesday 25 March at ETH Zurich. Adam Caruso will join Linda Schädler, Adam Szymczyk, and Roland Züger for a conversation moderated by Irina Davidovici and Frida Grahn.

Read more

Book launch & talk, Zurich

Collected Works: Volume 3, 2010-2020
Adam Caruso & Salim Umar

Hochparterre Bücher, Zurich

19:00 CET 20th March 2026

hochparterre-buecher.ch

Adam Caruso will be in conversation with Salim Umar to celebrate the release of Collected Works: Volume 3 2010–2020. Free to attend.

Read more

Royale Belge has won the Contemporary Heritage Award at the third edition of the Brussels Architecture Prizes. The prizes celebrate contributions to the spatial quality of Brussels.

Read more

Opening

Opia Store Sihlstrasse

Zurich, Switzerland

11nd November 2025

opia.ch

Opia is celebrating the opening of a second store in Zurich. Caruso St John designed the fit-out of the new store at Sihlstrasse 20. The design centers on a spatial element that integrates lighting and display systems, while also helping to organize the space and bringing colour and texture.

Read more