Things won't be what they seem in the Curve this Autumn. Richard Wilson, one of the UK's best-known artists, has been commissioned to create new works for the gallery at the Barbican in London. This is the second of the Curve art commissions in which artists are invited to respond to the distinctive architecture of the space, realising projects on a scale that is seldom available; the first was Tomas Saraceno's wonderfully curved sky panoramas filmed atop one of the world's highest lakes (featured in Your Gallery).
Throughout his career Wilson has undertaken highly ambitious projects, creating extraordinary large-scale works and architectural interventions. His most celebrated work, 20:50 (1987), created for Matt's Gallery in London and on permanent display in the Saatchi Gallery for many years, is a masterpiece of spatial inversion. The installation consists of a room of sump oil at waist height, the highly reflective black liquid, together with its overpowering smell, creating an illusion of an upturned world.
Wilson's project for The Curve is a three-part installation in which the works are, in the artist's own words, 'related like a family.' Two of the works involve modes of transport: the first piece features a black cab bored with holes like a piece of Swiss cheese; the second presents a caravan spinning in the air. These sculptural elements are complimented by video, which introduces another layer of complexity. Together, the objects and footage radically alter the viewer's perception of time and space. The third work features a burger stand, crushed and then reconstructed into a curve shape.
In the 1990s Wilson began to work on large-scale projects in the built environment, often collaborating with structural engineers. One permanent work is Over Easy (1998), in which an eight-metre circular section of a building façade slowly rotates, revealing the activities of the space within. In recent years the artist has also begun to work with pre-existing forms, including motor vehicles, producing pieces such as the monumental Slice of Reality (2000). This vertically-sliced section of a ship positioned on the foreshore of the Thames is a work which also acts as the artist's drawing space.
Richard Wilson was born in London in 1953, where he lives and works. He has shown extensively in Britain and internationally, and was nominated for the Turner Prize in 1988 and 1989. Recent solo exhibitions and projects include Butterfly, Wapping Project, London, 2003; and Bank Job, Caveau, Palazzo delle Papesse Contemporary Art Centre, Sienna, 2004. Recent group exhibitions include Thinking Big: 21st Century British Sculpture, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, 2002; Wings of Art, Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen, 2004; and the Yokohama Triennale, 2005.
RICHARD WILSON
The Curve, Barbican Art Gallery, London
27 September 2006 - 14 January 2007
Supported by Arts Council England and The Henry Moore Foundation
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