Sculpture 2013

From Andrew Frost…

An art school lecturer once remarked to me that the problem with sculpture is that it takes up a lot of room. Just think of all those monumental objects artists used to make, from big solid objects in stone and bronze to wielded metal. But just as painting has long taken pride of place in most collectors’ homes thanks to its domestic scale, many sculptures have now been reduced to something much more manageable.
Now in its 15th year, Brenda May Gallery’s annual Sculpture survey exhibition seeks to highlight recent work in three dimensions. Among the artists included are Todd Fuller, whose fantasy figures are part Pan, part Planet of The Apes. Will Coles’s Might Is Right [a blazing gold Buddha holding up an AK47] and Peter Tilley’s Hesitation [cast iron locked hands and figures] occupy the figurative end of sculptural practice.

More abstract sculptures such as Sandra Pitkin’s biomorphic Breath and the geometric precision of Lyndal Hargrave’s Enigmabloc and Kelly Anne Lees Triangular Prism offer a beguiling alternative to the literal. Visiting artists Ken and Julia Yonetani Still Life: The Food Bowl is one of their trademark works, a column and bowl of fruit made from compacted Murray River salt. Like the very best contemporary sculptures, the Yonetani’s work is the reason why sculptural practice remains compelling – deciphering the difference between the thing depicted and the materials that make up that thing is a fascinating conceptual conundrum.

January 23 to February 9
Brenda May Gallery, Waterloo.
Pic: Lyndal Hargrave,Enigmabloc, 2012. Timber, 132 x106x2cm.