Richard Deacon
10 Feb - 04 Apr 2009
RICHARD DEACON
"Siamese Connection"
February 10 - April 4, 2009
Gallery Distrito 4 opens its new gallery with a great exhibition by the British sculptor Richard Deacon .
Richard Deacon is one of the outstanding figures of contemporary art. His innovative use of form, his interest in materials (wood, leather, aluminium, clay, polycarbonate....) and how he manipulates them, make him one of the most creative artists of our time. In 2005 the artist explained that “to change materials from one work to the next is a way of starting afresh each time (as well as finishing what one was doing before).”
He was awarded the Turner Prize in 1987, in 1998 named Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Letters and given the CBE in 1999. He is a member of the Royal Academy. Richard Deacon has had exhibitions in the most important museums and galleries of the world, among them Tate Modern, the Serpentine Gallery, Bonnefanten Museum, The Pompidou, MOMA, the contemporary Art Museum of Los Angeles etc. As well as working with Distrto 4, he is with the Marian Goodman Gallery, Thaddaeus Ropac, the Lisson Gallery and Galerie Thomas Schulte.
In this, his third exhibition for Distrito 4, Richard Deacon is presenting three series of works: Siamese Connection, three works in stainless steel; three works in wood: Splint, Band and Pair.
Fire service access pipes outside large buildings in New York are often labelled Siamese Connection. The meaning is that two inlets come together to form a single pipe. Siamese in this context has the meaning of conjoined and derives from the famous Thai acrobats of the 19th century, conjoined twins from whom originated the now abandoned usage Siamese twins. Siamese thus comes into the language as a way of describing a conjoint entity and rests there when its original application is lost. The three stainless steel sculptures made for this exhibition are conjoint in this way. In each piece, two individual shapes share an overlapping part which becomes an area of intermingling in otherwise clear geometry, an area of merger as two streams of water mix in a Siamese Connection.
The wall drawing made on site for the exhibition uses a similar device (two elements sharing common features) as a line drawing on the wall.
Pairing is a feature of the wooden works. Splint has a raw tree trunk wrapped with and supported by a ribbon of bent wood. Band uses two pairs of similar shapes twisting round and interlinking, under some tension, a single loop. The line is continuous but the material (type of wood), alternates - oak, ash, oak, ash. In Pair the two elements are a pair of left and right handed twisted columns, slightly separated and, having between them a turbulent space.
"Siamese Connection"
February 10 - April 4, 2009
Gallery Distrito 4 opens its new gallery with a great exhibition by the British sculptor Richard Deacon .
Richard Deacon is one of the outstanding figures of contemporary art. His innovative use of form, his interest in materials (wood, leather, aluminium, clay, polycarbonate....) and how he manipulates them, make him one of the most creative artists of our time. In 2005 the artist explained that “to change materials from one work to the next is a way of starting afresh each time (as well as finishing what one was doing before).”
He was awarded the Turner Prize in 1987, in 1998 named Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Letters and given the CBE in 1999. He is a member of the Royal Academy. Richard Deacon has had exhibitions in the most important museums and galleries of the world, among them Tate Modern, the Serpentine Gallery, Bonnefanten Museum, The Pompidou, MOMA, the contemporary Art Museum of Los Angeles etc. As well as working with Distrto 4, he is with the Marian Goodman Gallery, Thaddaeus Ropac, the Lisson Gallery and Galerie Thomas Schulte.
In this, his third exhibition for Distrito 4, Richard Deacon is presenting three series of works: Siamese Connection, three works in stainless steel; three works in wood: Splint, Band and Pair.
Fire service access pipes outside large buildings in New York are often labelled Siamese Connection. The meaning is that two inlets come together to form a single pipe. Siamese in this context has the meaning of conjoined and derives from the famous Thai acrobats of the 19th century, conjoined twins from whom originated the now abandoned usage Siamese twins. Siamese thus comes into the language as a way of describing a conjoint entity and rests there when its original application is lost. The three stainless steel sculptures made for this exhibition are conjoint in this way. In each piece, two individual shapes share an overlapping part which becomes an area of intermingling in otherwise clear geometry, an area of merger as two streams of water mix in a Siamese Connection.
The wall drawing made on site for the exhibition uses a similar device (two elements sharing common features) as a line drawing on the wall.
Pairing is a feature of the wooden works. Splint has a raw tree trunk wrapped with and supported by a ribbon of bent wood. Band uses two pairs of similar shapes twisting round and interlinking, under some tension, a single loop. The line is continuous but the material (type of wood), alternates - oak, ash, oak, ash. In Pair the two elements are a pair of left and right handed twisted columns, slightly separated and, having between them a turbulent space.