Sculpture commissioned to Leonor Antunes at a collective exhibition in London
A sculpture commissioned for the Portuguese artist Leonor Antunes is part of an exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, along with artists such as Anish Kapoor and Richard Wilson, which opens today in London.
The piece was commissioned and made expressly for this exhibition, entitled ‘Space Shifters’, which opens today and continues until 6 January.
The sculpture of the Portuguese, a series of triangles in copper wire suspended in ropes descending from the ceiling to the floor, is called ‘Discrepencies with A.’ and makes a reference to the textile artist Anna Albers.
Exhibition curator Cliff Lauson told Lusa that Leonor Antunes is often inspired by female artists, designers and architects, so the triangles are in the shape of the letter ‘A’.
“This work was made for this room, to be placed vertically and take advantage of the light of our new skylights in the ceiling.
In the same room on the top floor are works by artists Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Rori Horn, Robert Irwin, Ann Veronica Janssens, Josiah McElheny, Monika Sosnowska and De Wain Valentine.
In total, the exhibition contains works of art from 20 international artists who “seek to alter or disturb the visitor’s sense of space and redirect their perception of space in a subtle and intense way,” the presentation describes.
Several are constructed from reflective or translucent materials, such as glass, resin and mirror, with the aim of provoking physiological and psychological reactions.
Leonor Antunes, 43, winner of the EDP New Artists Award in 2001, has held solo exhibitions at the Pérez Art Museum in Miami, the Kunsthalle Basel in Basel, the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, Reina Sofía, of Madrid, and in the Serralves Museum, in Porto.
In London she exhibited last year at the Whitechapel Gallery and this year she showed work at the Marian Goodman Gallery.
Woods, bamboo, leather, rope, yarn and bronze are some of the materials commonly used by Leonor Antunes to create sculptures that reflect the environment around them, while at the same time making references to lesser-known figures in the history of architecture and design. twentieth century, such as the Swedish Greta Grossman and the American Maya Deren.
