Exhibition imposes 'material' on porcelain sculpture
For his debut exhibition at the Lisson Gallery Shanghai, influential British sculptor Richard Deacon is presenting a series of new work, demonstrating a mastery of the medium and extending the possibility of his chosen materials.
The exhibition "Harbour" includes a small series of rare glazed porcelain sculptures, each cast from the same mold but individually fired to create hues that present distinctive natural elements, from emerald green to a soft blue granite, a metallic burnished copper and deep leather.
Alongside these are three stainless steel sculptures entitled "At Sea" (2022) – two placed in the center of the main gallery and one in the adjacent space mirroring light from the window. Each of these pieces ripples with the undulating waves of the ocean, their surfaces meticulously worked to create the swirling patterns that mimic the movement of the sea.
The surface of the stainless steel has been pre-processed, ground and polished, becoming an additional reflector of light, allowing rays to bounce off the surfaces, just as the sun reflects off the ocean.
The models for the "At Sea" pieces were made from discarded cardboard tubes, cut and rejoined to give a raft of waveform, the amplitude depending on the diameter of the roll and the number of sections it had been divided into.
The porcelain work appears to connote an ode to different mediums, while the stainless steel pieces show the materiality in the initial grinding of the surface, dispersing light. However, there is a clear affinity between these two bodies of work in their refined, undulating surfaces.
The intense colors of the porcelain can be seen reflecting on the steel sculptures, and the movement of the "At Sea" works echo with the ups and downs of their glazed forms.
Deacon's complex composite forms, presented here through two new bodies of work, are driven by the material itself, and embody the movement and agency of the hand that created it. This exhibition follows the artist's previous presentations in China at TAG Art (2021) and the Wuzhen International Contemporary Art Exhibition (2016).
Exhibition info:
Date: Through January 14, Tuesdays-Saturdays, 11am-6pm
Venue: Lisson Gallery
Address: 2/F, 27 Huqiu Rd
