MODERN BRITISH SCULPTURE
The key part of this exhibition resides in the subtitle questions – What is modern? What is British? What is sculpture?
Henry Moore - Standing Figure 1982 12 x 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 in. Bronze and Wood
Henry Moore - Two Seated Figures Against Wall 1960 19 5/8 x 19 3/8 x 9 3/4 in. bronze with brown patina
For example, while Henry Moore pushed the boundaries of figurative sculpture, there is a vein of classicism that runs through his work. Is his work a continuation of classical sculpture or is it a radical transformation? What does it mean when, by the 1970s, he believed that over three-fourths of his work was in the United States.
While Anthony Caro may have worked with Moore, his sculptures defy an easy understanding with their abstracted stacks of plate metal. More construction than pictorial, Caro’s work explores materiality and horizontality, pushing the viewer to ask themselves, what makes something sculpture?
Even for more contemporary artists, these questions linger. In the same avenue of modernity and classicism is Rachel Whiteread whose works ask us to reconsider architectural spaces. Even Kapoor’s work returns to something more totemic while diving into and around ‘the void’.
Anish Kapoor - Blood Cinema 2000 77 1/4 x 77 1/4 x 18 3/4 in. acrylic and steel
Anish Kapoor - Untitled 2011 40 5/8 x 48 1/2 x 17 1/2 in. alabaster
This exhibition gives a small glimpse into the rich history of sculpture in Britain in the last 60 years and showcases the creative diversity that drives us to rethink sculpture and modernity
Rachel Whiteread - Untitled (Nets) 2002 25 1/4 x 20 1/4 in. etched germansilver metal grating
Anthony Caro - Nectarine c. 1976 79 x 110 x 51 in. rusted and varnished steel
