As the first glimmers of summer arrive and stir a desire to get outside, the opportunity to explore art in public spaces – both literally and figuratively – renews. In this perspective, contemporary sculptor Tony Cragg, in conjunction with Blain|Southern gallery, will embrace the public's annual proclivity for outdoor installations by transforming his Skulpturenpark Waldfrieden in Wuppertal, Germany, into an exhibition space dedicated to the lauded post-war sculptor Lynn Chadwick, from mid-July to mid-October. The retrospective, conceived and curated by Cragg himself, will focus on the British artist's physically enthralling and dynamic sculptures of the 1950s and 60s.
Almost immediately succeeding an exhibition at the Museo del Giardino di Boboli – Giardino Bardini in Florence – in which 24 sculptures were spread across two parks – Cragg's show will doubtlessly maintain a similar resonance, dotting the Skulpturenpark's verdant space with Chadwick's looming, abstract figures.
As well as creating an inimitable atmosphere around the park, the sculptures will also provide the visiting public with a documentative body of Chadwick's work, revealing his artistic processes and idiosyncrasies. The most obvious of these remains an ardent interest in handicraft; the small scratches, raw lines and rough surfaces seen in the iron and bronze sculptures reveal the laborious manual work involved in their creation, as well as a singular experimental inclination.
Chadwick's sculptures – from the modestly sized to the gargantuan – should be experienced in their tangible form, the artist explained. Merely rationalising the concept behind them is not enough. 'The intellect alone,' he said, 'is still too clumsy to grasp it.' Cragg's retrospective thus presents an ideal opportunity to follow Chadwick's sound advice.
The notion of physicality is at the heart of the sculptor's work, manifesting itself in his use of heavy man-made materials
Predominantly conceived in the 1950s and 60s, Chadwick's imposing, sincere and quirky sculptures range in size, form and material. Pictured: 'Trog', 1961
Enlarged bodies and thin limbs in angular forms: Chadwick's creatures possess traits characteristic of his abstract, modernist style
Cragg's selection of the British artist's physically enthralling and dynamic work will run at the Skulpturenpark Waldfrieden from mid-July to mid-October
ADDRESS
Skulpturenpark Waldfrieden
Hirschstraße 12
42285 Wuppertal
Germany
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Jnane Rumi: clarity, reflection and connectionIn the quiet tranquillity of Marrakech’s Palmeraie, Jnane Rumi evokes a rich and colourful tapestry of Moroccan art, craftsmanship and design
-
Cindy Sherman in Menorca: ‘She's decades ahead of social media and the construction of identity for the camera’‘Cindy Sherman: The Women’, its title a nod to an image-conscious 1930s Broadway hit, takes the American artist's carefully constructed, highly performative works to Hauser & Wirth Menorca
-
A Rancho Mirage home is in tune with its location and its architect-owners' passionsArchitect Steven Harris and his collaborator and husband, designer Lucien Rees Roberts have built a home in Rancho Mirage, surrounded by some of America’s most iconic mid-century modern works; they invited us on a tour
-
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
-
Frieze Sculpture takes over Regent’s ParkTwenty-two international artists turn the English gardens into a dream-like landscape and remind us of our inextricable connection to the natural world
-
Harlem-born artist Tschabalala Self’s colourful ode to the landscape of her childhoodTschabalala Self’s new show at Finland's Espoo Museum of Modern Art evokes memories of her upbringing, in vibrant multi-dimensional vignettes
