Complex and ever provocative, British artist Sarah Lucas is a woman of many parts. So too, is her corps of discombobulated female figure studies, which are now on show in a new London exhibition at Sir John Soane’s Museum, supported by the Art Fund.
‘Power in Woman’ sees Lucas’ commission from last year’s Venice Biennale return to the custard-yellow setting that in part inspired her installation for the British Pavilion. The trio of sculptures on show – Yoko, Pauline, and Michele – make themselves at home in the North Drawing Room, casually slumped and explicitly splayed atop furniture among the storied museum’s antiques and paintings.
‘Sir John was continually, over a lifetime, collecting and extending his house to accommodate his collection. The whole edifice is his work of art,’ says Lucas. ‘Strange then to intervene in his picture, temporarily.’ Lucas’ sculptures form part of a series of ten cast plaster bodies, collectively titled the Muses, and for which the artist used friends as models.
The ‘topless’ figures, each one embellished with a cigarette, form a startling counterpoint to the classical sculptures in the museum’s collection. ‘Soane’s plasters are cast from the marble originals. Mine, on the other hand, are cast direct from the woman in question using the rough and ready method of making a waste mould by applying plaster bandage directly onto the body,’ the artist explains.
She adds: ‘The mould doesn’t survive. There’s very little room in the process for refining the figure or otherwise idealising it.’ Lucas makes a compelling case for how much perfection there is in imperfection.
Pauline, 2015. The show sees Lucas’ commission from last year’s Venice Biennale return to the custard-yellow setting that in part inspired her installation for the British Pavilion. © Sarah Lucas. Courtesy of Sir John Soane's Museum and Sadie Coles HQ. Photography: Graeme Robertson
Yoko, 2015. The works make themselves at home in the North Drawing Room, casually slumped and explicitly splayed atop furniture among the storied museum’s antiques and paintings. © Sarah Lucas. Courtesy of Sir John Soane's Museum and Sadie Coles HQ. Photography: Graeme Robertson
INFORMATION
‘Power in Woman’ runs until 21 May. For more information, visit the Sir John Soane’s Museum website
ADDRESS
13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields
London WC2A
-
A tale of two Audis: the A5 saloon goes up against the A6 Avant e-tronIs the sun setting on Audi’s ICE era, or does the company’s e-tron technology still need to improve?
-
Inside Christian de Portzamparc’s showstopping House of Dior Beijing: ‘sculptural, structural, alive’Daven Wu travels to Beijing to discover Dior’s dramatic new store, a vast temple to fashion that translates haute couture into architectural form
-
A music player for the mindful, Sleevenote shuns streaming in favour of focused listeningDevised by musician Tom Vek, Sleevenote is a new music player that places artist intent and the lost art of record collecting at the forefront of the experience
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekFar from slowing down for the festive season, the Wallpaper* team is in full swing, hopping from events to openings this week. Sometimes work can feel like play – and we also had time for some festive cocktails and cinematic releases
-
The Barbican is undergoing a huge revamp. Here’s what we knowThe Barbican Centre is set to close in June 2028 for a year as part of a huge restoration plan to future-proof the brutalist Grade II-listed site
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekIt’s wet, windy and wintry and, this week, the Wallpaper* team craved moments of escape. We found it in memories of the Mediterranean, flavours of Mexico, and immersions in the worlds of music and art
-
Each mundane object tells a story at Pace’s tribute to the everydayIn a group exhibition, ‘Monument to the Unimportant’, artists give the seemingly insignificant – from discarded clothes to weeds in cracks – a longer look
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekThis week, the Wallpaper* team had its finger on the pulse of architecture, interiors and fashion – while also scooping the latest on the Radiohead reunion and London’s buzziest pizza
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekIt’s been a week of escapism: daydreams of Ghana sparked by lively local projects, glimpses of Tokyo on nostalgic film rolls, and a charming foray into the heart of Christmas as the festive season kicks off in earnest
-
Wes Anderson at the Design Museum celebrates an obsessive attention to detail‘Wes Anderson: The Archives’ pays tribute to the American film director’s career – expect props and puppets aplenty in this comprehensive London retrospective
-
Meet Eva Helene Pade, the emerging artist redefining figurative paintingPade’s dreamlike figures in a crowd are currently on show at Thaddaeus Ropac London; she tells us about her need ‘to capture movements especially’
