Sculpture: THE ABSTRACTION OF LOUISE NEVELSON - ON THE EDGE OF THE ABYSS & THE GEOMETRY OF FEAR

At the end of the 19th century, sculptures departed from naturalism and human representation to embrace the innovative shapes and ideas of Modernism.

With August Rodin, statues became sculptures, Constantin Brancusi removed them from their traditional plinths and Alexander Calder suspended them on wires to create movement and kinetic pieces. Rather than carving, modelling, or casting, sculptors created new, stylized, abstracted, contrasting and distorted forms with unusual materials, ready-made and found objects.

After the apocalyptic destruction of the two World Wars, artists could no longer describe the world through the figurative tradition. Informed by the exploration of the self and psychoanalytical theories, they wanted to redeem culture and make powerful statements about traumatic experiences and visceral emotions. Abstraction attempted to fill this unbearable void between humanity and horror by expressing our preoccupation with darkness, fear, and loneliness.

Louise Nevelson (1899-1988) pioneered site-specific installations with monochromatic monumental sculptures made of boxes and nested objects. Her signature artistic process involved salvaging cast-off fragments of wood – often recognisable as household objects and architectural ornamentation – from the streets of New York. She assembled and organised them in modular, sprawling crates that she then painted in a unifying colour.

These modes of engagement with the texture of woodand the tactile memories of their former functions, are intended to configure a spatial order from the chaos of unwanted items and forgotten buildings. Nevelson’s sculptural practice is as much a statement about art making, as it is a tribute to the significance of everyday life.

delivered by SOPHIE LACHOWSKY as a HYBRID lecture (online and in person)

Other talks on sculpture by Sophie:

3/3/23: HARD STONE AND SOFT POWER: THE METAMORPHOSIS OF GIAN LORENZO BERNINI

28/4/23: THE CONTEMPORARY: RACHEL WHITEREAD reveals the negative space and CORNELIA PARKER connects objects with the fragility of the human condition

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All three talks will be recorded and can be bought afterwards for members on our database in case they missed the live event.