TONY CRAGG NEW SCULPTURES AT THADDAEUS ROPAC SALZBURG VILLA KAST
March 21, 2024 – May 11, 2024
TONY CRAGG NEW SCULPTURES
AT THADDAEUS ROPAC SALZBURG VILLA KAST
March 21, 2024 – May 11,
2024
Focusing on his most
recent bodies of work, this exhibition offers a view into the breadth of Tony
Cragg’s latest formal developments, which are defined by the British artist’s
continual investigation into the possibilities of a wide range of materials and
his exploration of both the natural and the man-made worlds. ‘His work has the
accumulated effect of subtly unsettling the certainties of such categories,
whilst allowing us to think – through sculpture – about the complex material
connectivities between […] culture and nature,’ writes art historian Jon Wood.
Cragg’s abstract sculptures manifest entirely unprecedented forms that
nevertheless spark a sense of recognition as they gesture to the world around
us.
The monumental work Karst
(2020) evokes geological patterns of erosion. The artist has stated, ‘although
it is the human figure which interests me most deeply, I have always paid great
attention to natural forms.’ Inspired by karst landscapes, a topography shaped
by the erosion of soluble rocks such as limestone, Cragg’s sculpture features
intricate textures and fractures found in these natural formations. By
contrast, the rugged surface of the bronze sculpture Mean Average (2021)
appears to be made up of stratified forms that are pressed into each other.
Profiles and jawlines seem to emerge and recede from the undulating biomorphic
mass, resolving from certain viewpoints, before dissolving back into
abstraction.
Through meticulous
craftsmanship, Cragg’s sculptures captivate the viewer with their palpable
energy and intriguing concepts of space. This exhibition highlights the many
ways in which Cragg’s practice continues to answer anew what is possible in
terms of form.
The works on view range
from detailed stainless steel sculptures from his recent series Incidents to
softer, organic forms, such as his latest Integers, with each distinctive
material informing the shape the finished sculpture takes. His polymorphic
sculptures seem to emulate geographical layers of sediment when constructed
from plywood. When cast in bronze, they appear more weighted, almost turned in
on themselves, highlighting Cragg’s deep understanding of materiality and how
it affects our perception of the work. ‘Every change in material form has a
precise and immediate consequence for our thoughts, feelings and course of
action and, with that, the future,’ states the artist.
Highlighting the playful
relationship between organic and geometric shapes, the streamlined Integers are
juxtaposed with more intricate sculptures whose pulsating forms extend both
inwards and outwards. This includes a series of works that feature formations
reminiscent of solidified drop-shaped dabs of foam or emulsion. Cast in bronze,
Cragg imparts the impression of malleability to this exceedingly hard and heavy
material, the work’s surfaces a nuanced blend of rounded and tapered contours.
INTEGERS, 2022
Bronze, 380
kg
Dimensions: 160 x 103 x 111 cm
Courtesy
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London · Paris · Salzburg · Seoul
© Tony Cragg
/ DACS, London 2024 Photo:
Michael Richter
STACK, 2022
Bronze, 115
kg
Dimensions: 90 x 57 x 58
cm (35,43 x 22,44 x 22,83 in)
Courtesy
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London · Paris · Salzburg · Seoul
© Tony Cragg
/ DACS, London 2024
UNTITLED, 2023
Corten steel
Dimensions: 240 x 86 x 98 cm (94.49 x 33.86 x 38.58 in)
Courtesy
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London · Paris · Salzburg · Seoul
© Tony Cragg
/ DACS, London 2024
UNTITLED, 2023
Corten
Dimensions: 110 x 48 x 72 cm
Courtesy
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London · Paris · Salzburg · Seoul
© Tony Cragg
/ DACS, London 2024
INCIDENT SOLO, 2023
Stainless
steel
Dimensions: 245 x 69 x 104 cm (96.46 x 27.17 x 40.94 in)
Courtesy
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London · Paris · Salzburg · Seoul
© Tony Cragg
/ DACS, London 2024 Photo:
Michael Richter
SENDERS, 2019
Bronze, 100
kg
Dimensions: 120 x 58 x 53
cm (47,24 x 22,83 x 20,87 in)
Courtesy
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London · Paris · Salzburg · Seoul
© Tony Cragg
/ DACS, London 2024
MASKS, 2023
Bog oak, 298
kg
Dimensions: 140 x 111 x 55 cm (55,12 x 43,7 x 21,65 in) (TC 1353)
Courtesy
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London · Paris · Salzburg · Seoul
© Tony Cragg
/ DACS, London 2024 Photo: Michael Richter
SEAM, 2023
Bronze,
yellow, ca. 800 kg
Dimensions: 230 x 139 x 131 cm
Courtesy
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London · Paris · Salzburg · Seoul
© Tony Cragg
/ DACS, London 2024 Photo: Ulrich Ghezzi
KARST, 2020
Bronze, 500
kg
Dimensions: 125 x 136 x 96 cm (49,21 x 53,54 x 37,8 in) (TC 1335)
Courtesy
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London · Paris · Salzburg · Seoul
© Tony Cragg
/ DACS, London 2024
UNTITLED,
2023
Stainless
steel
Dimensions: 90 x 39 x 58 cm (35,43 x 15,35 x 22,83 in)
Courtesy
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London · Paris · Salzburg · Seoul
© Tony Cragg
/ DACS, London 2024
UNTITLED, 2023
Bronze
Dimensions: 100 x 53 x 82 cm
Courtesy
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London · Paris · Salzburg · Seoul
© Tony Cragg
/ DACS, London 2024
INTEGERS, 2021
Wood, 140 kg
Dimensions: 110 x 50 x 74 cm
Courtesy
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London · Paris · Salzburg · Seoul
© Tony Cragg
/ DACS, London 2024
MEAN AVERAGE,
2021
Bronze, 180
kg
Dimensions: 135 x 56 x 62 cm (53,15 x 22,05 x 24,41 in) (TC 1355)
Courtesy
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London · Paris · Salzburg · Seoul
© Tony Cragg
/ DACS, London 2024 Photo: Michael Richter
INTEGERS 2023
Stone ( Verde
Guatemala ), 72 kg
Dimensions: 60 x 50 x 35 cm
Courtesy
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London · Paris · Salzburg · Seoul
© Tony Cragg
/ DACS, London 2024
OFF THE
MOUNTAIN 2023
Stone ( Nero
Portoto ), 460 kg
Dimensions: 90 x 65 x 69 cm
Courtesy
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London · Paris · Salzburg · Seoul
© Tony Cragg
/ DACS, London 2024
INTEGERS,
2022
Bronze, 380
kg
Dimensions: 160 x 103 x 111 cm (62,99 x 40,55 x 43,7 in) (TC 1356)
Courtesy
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London · Paris · Salzburg · Seoul
© Tony Cragg
/ DACS, London 2024
TONY CRAGG
Born in Liverpool, Cragg
has lived and worked in Wuppertal, Germany, since 1979 and has lectured at the
Berlin Academy of Arts and the Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Arts. Since the
1980s, his work has been shown at important international exhibitions,
including documenta in Kassel (1982 and 1987); the British pavilion at the
Venice Biennale (1988); and the São Paulo Biennial (1983). He was awarded the
Turner Prize in 1988, made a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by France in
1992, and received Japan’s prestigious Praemium Imperiale in 2007. Recent solo
exhibitions include the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich (2023); the Museo
Nacional de Arte Contemporânea do Chiado, Lisboa (2023); the Herning Museum of
Contemporary Art (2022); the ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna; the Museo del Vetro,
Murano (2021); Houghton Hall, Norfolk (2021); Museum Belvédère, Heerenveen
(2021); Schlossmuseum Wolfenbüttel (2020); MON Museu Oscar Niemeyer, Curitiba
(2020); Museu Brasileiro da Escultura e Ecologia, São Paulo (2019); Boboli
Gardens, Uffizi Galleries, Florence (2019); Franz Marc Museum, Kochel am See
(2019); Istanbul Modern (2018); Yorkshire Sculpture Park (2017); Museo Nacional
de Bellas Artes, Havana (2017); and The State Hermitage Museum, Saint
Petersburg (2016).
A retrospective of the
artist’s work opened at Kunstpalast Düsseldorf in February 2024, followed by a
further landmark exhibition at Castle Howard and York Minster, Yorkshire,
opening in May 2024.
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