The London-based Brazilian artist Alexandre da Cunha creates ‘ready mades’; re-contextualising found objects, but on a monumental scale. His new show, 'Free Fall', at London’s Thomas Dane Gallery, includes a massive pre-cast concrete corner piece with a useful semi-circle cut into it. Da Cunha slots in a spinnable – possibly – black metal disk, creating an elegant, imposing stabile, perfectly working the angles, out of infrastructural off-cuts.
In another piece, Free Fall 1, Da Cunha hangs a full-sized military surplus parachute on a steel frame. Here it becomes a giant totem or flag, not a downed bird or anything flaccid and deflated but perhaps a super-heroic cape; it's too light, flighty and lyrical to be it-is-what-is minimalism. Elsewhere what look like oversized concrete doughnuts line up on another steel frame or cable hangs in loops.
Da Cunha says he is less a maker than a ‘pointer’, making the familiar unfamiliar. He seems to underestimate how far he takes these objects, how magically transformed they are.
Da Cunha says he is less a maker than a ‘pointer’, making the familiar unfamiliar. Pictured: Field Work, 2016
Free Fall I sees Da Cunha hang a full-sized military surplus parachute on a steel frame – here it becomes a giant totem or flag. Pictured left: Free Fall I, 2016. Right: Fatigue (diagram II), 2016
Free Fall III a massive pre-cast concrete corner piece with a semi-circle cut into it. Da Cunha slots in a spinnable – possibly – black metal disk, creating an elegant, imposing stabile. Pictured: Free Fall III, 2016
Fatigue (diagram II), 2015
Free Fall III, 2016
INFORMATION
’Alexandre da Cunha: Free Fall’ is on view until 5 March. For more information, visit Thomas Dane Gallery’s website
Photography courtesy the artist and Thomas Dane Gallery, London
ADDRESS
Thomas Dane Gallery
3 & 11 Duke Street
London, SW1Y 6BN
-
These sculptural mirrors embody the relaxed spirit of the MedPhotographed in a Mallorcan residence designed by local studio Munarq, these new sculptural mirrors by New York furniture company Ready To Hang are inspired by the sea
-
African brutalism explored: from bold experimentation to uncertain futureDiscover the complex and manifold legacies of brutalist architecture in Africa with writer and curator Fabiola Büchele
-
What to see at Frieze Seoul 2025Don't miss this mix of contemporary and established artists at Frieze Seoul, 3-6 September; here’s our guide to the fair and what's on around the city
-
Rolf Sachs’ largest exhibition to date, ‘Be-rühren’, is a playful study of touchA collection of over 150 of Rolf Sachs’ works speaks to his preoccupation with transforming everyday objects to create art that is sensory – both emotionally and physically
-
Architect Erin Besler is reframing the American tradition of barn raisingAt Art Omi sculpture and architecture park, NY, Besler turns barn raising into an inclusive project that challenges conventional notions of architecture
-
What is recycling good for, asks Mika Rottenberg at Hauser & Wirth MenorcaUS-based artist Mika Rottenberg rethinks the possibilities of rubbish in a colourful exhibition, spanning films, drawings and eerily anthropomorphic lamps
-
San Francisco’s controversial monument, the Vaillancourt Fountain, could be facing demolitionThe brutalist fountain is conspicuously absent from renders showing a redeveloped Embarcadero Plaza and people are unhappy about it, including the structure’s 95-year-old designer
-
See the fruits of Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely's creative and romantic union at Hauser & Wirth SomersetAn intimate exhibition at Hauser & Wirth Somerset explores three decades of a creative partnership
-
Technology, art and sculptures of fog: LUMA Arles kicks off the 2025/26 seasonThree different exhibitions at LUMA Arles, in France, delve into history in a celebration of all mediums; Amy Serafin went to explore
-
Inside Yinka Shonibare's first major show in AfricaBritish-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare is showing 15 years of work, from quilts to sculptures, at Fondation H in Madagascar
-
Inside Jack Whitten’s contribution to American contemporary artAs Jack Whitten exhibition ‘Speedchaser’ opens at Hauser & Wirth, London, and before a major retrospective at MoMA opens next year, we explore the American artist's impact
