Gagosian is pleased to announce The Body as Matter: Giacometti Nauman Picasso, an exhibition of sculpture by Alberto Giacometti (1901–1966), Bruce Nauman (b. 1941), and Pablo Picasso (1881–1973). Curated by Richard Calvocoressi, the exhibition is on view at the Grosvenor Hill gallery from June 6 to July 26, 2024.
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).
A pioneer of Cubism best known for his paintings, drawings, and collages, Picasso produced numerous sculptures, which are among his most experimental works. He primarily sculpted in two distinct modes: modeling clay or plaster for casting into bronze, and constructing or assembling forms from discarded objects and cheap materials such as sheet metal, wood, and cardboard. In works of astonishing wit and originality, not to mention erotic suggestiveness, Picasso investigated means of manipulating mass and surface to incorporate multiple perspectives into a single head, limb, or figure.
