Xavier Veilhan’s ’Promenade’ takes over Hatfield House
Whether they are figuratively defying gravity in Louis Vuitton’s Tokyo gallery space or physically breaking through a café ceiling in Paris, Xavier Veilhan’s works can’t help but garner hype. The French artist has turned his hand at everything from painting and photography to film and installation, but he is best known for his audacious sculptures.
His first major UK outdoor exhibition opens at Hatfield House on 7 April. Covering the grounds of the West Garden, 'Promenade' is a configuration of new site-specific pieces and recent greatest hits, such as 'Le Monument' - a startling red supremetist architectural space - and 'Les Rayons', a stunning, penetrable formation inspired by Fred Sandback and Jesús-Rafael Soto.
Colour is a main concern for Veilhan. He has tweaked the hues of some his previously seen works to give them new life at Hatfield House. ‘Vibration’, an inox steel composition based on the Amish horse and carriage, was first created in brown for the marble courtyard of the Shanghai World Expo, but now appears in a completely new shade of electric blue here.
It would be easy to compare this show to his much-lauded 2009 exhibition at Versaille, but Hatfield, with its leafy trees and natural garden foliage is an entirely different habitat to the structured formality of Versaille’s grounds. A giant aluminium horizontal statue of cosmonaut Youri Gagarine, for example, lies on its back entirely surrounded by grass - a strange but bucolic setting much unlike the stone floor in which it had previously been shown.
Indoors in the great 16th century Marble Hall, 'The Hatfield Mobile', a giant 21st century tangerine colour burst of an installation has been affixed to Giulio Taldini's ceiling and watches over 17th century Brussels tapestry and portraits of the likes of Queen Elizabeth I - a nice denoument to the anglo-french venture that has taken over Hatfield.
ADDRESS
Hatfield House
Hatfield
Hertfordshire
AL9 5NQ
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
-
Space Un celebrates contemporary African art, community and connection in Japan
Space Un, a new art venue by Edna Dumas, dedicated to contemporary African art, opens in Tokyo, Japan
By Nana Ama Owusu-Ansah Published
-
Get to know Issey Miyake’s innovative A-POC ABLE line as it arrives in the UK
As A-POC ABLE Issey Miyake launches in London this week, designer Yoshiyuki Miyamae gives Wallpaper* the lowdown on the experimental Issey Miyake offshoot
By Jack Moss Published
-
Eurovision unveils its 2024 stage, designed by Beyoncé's Renaissance Tour creatives
This year's stage design aims to bring the audience into the performance more than ever before.
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
Gerhard Richter unveils new sculpture at Serpentine South
Gerhard Richter revisits themes of pattern and repetition in ‘Strip-Tower’ at London’s Serpentine South
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Damien Hirst takes over Château La Coste
Damien Hirst’s ‘The Light That Shines’ at Château La Coste includes new and existing work, and takes over the entire 500-acre estate in Provence
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Peter Blake’s sculptures spark joy at Waddington Custot in London
‘Peter Blake: Sculpture and Other Matters’, at London's Waddington Custot, spans six decades of the artist's career
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Oozing, squidgy, erupting forms come alive at Hayward Gallery
‘When Forms Come Alive: Sixty Years of Restless Sculpture’ at Hayward Gallery, London, is a group show full of twists and turns
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Tia-Thuy Nguyen encases Chateau La Coste oak tree in tonne of stainless steel strips
Tia-Thuy Nguyen’s ‘Flower of Life’ lives in the grounds of sculpture park and organic winery Château La Coste in France
By Harriet Quick Published
-
New glass sculpture creates a verdant wonderland at Apple’s Cupertino HQ
‘Mirage’ at Apple Park is the work of Zeller & Moye and artist Katie Paterson, a shimmering array of glass columns that snakes through the grounds of the company’s monumental HQ
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Man Ray’s sculptures go on show in New York
‘Man Ray: Other Objects’ opens at Luxembourg + Co, New York, revealing their author’s ‘artistic revolution’
By Hannah Silver Published
-
The best London art exhibitions to see now
Your guide to the best London art exhibitions, as chosen by the Wallpaper* arts desk
By Hannah Silver Published