'Bronze Woman 17'
Bronze, Steel 2006
Anything less imposing than German artist Thomas Schutte's giant sculptural manifestations would be dwarfed by the recently unwrapped 650ft Frith Street space on Golden Square. For in gallery terms this is something of an architectural coup, given the possibilities afforded by its impressive dimensions and central Soho location. They are both prudent choices and well-matched partners on the sliding scales of aesthetic and sensory impact. In terms of making a statement one might easily presume 'the bolder the better' to be the resident mantra at camp Schutte. This solo exhibition certainly reaffirms Schutte's level of invention and commitment to his provocatively creative cause, but though softened by a series of emotionally charged, rather beautiful watercolours and a separate wall of prints relating to the Trafalgar Square Fourth Plinth project, rarely has the female form felt more brutally described.
'Steel Woman 14', 2003
Voluptuous curves and sensual bumps, truncated limbs and twisted torsos cast from bronze, steel and aluminium loom large from the ground floor of this warehouse styled space. Expect to be bowled over by the strangely machismoid entities of the gallery itself and the last five in this particular series of reclining and seated women that Schutte began in 1998. After a short while though, the immediate visceral impact of art and architectural muscle starts to recede, giving way to more pressing issues surrounding Schutte's motives in making these partially formed females.
The transgressive, defiantly imperfect formal quality of these works (in opposition to their impeccable production) certainly flies in the faces of both the classical tradition of the sculptural nude and the modernist anti-statue: for they do not qualify as passive subjects or empowered heroines. Whether we like them or not Schutte reminds us that we are culturally, if not genetically, predisposed to require the closest thing possible to physical perfection (in whatever current guise that may be), from ourselves and those around us. While reeling from the disbelief that in these post-feminist times a male artist would choose to represent women in this way - as if in radical response to the more trivial insecurities of the contemporary sisterhood - you find yourself wanting to touch their seductive surfaces all the same.
Interesting then, that Marc Quinn's sculpture of pregnant, disabled artist Alison Lapper, who describes the piece as "a modern tribute to femininity, disability and motherhood", was chosen as the first Fourth Plinth artwork. Down in the basement a coloured Perspex maquette of 'Hotel for the Birds' - Schutte's winning entry for the Fourth Plinth to be installed later in the year - illuminates the space like an architectural beacon of hope. It's hard to work out exactly what he is intending to communicate with this work - the humour of the title, commemorating what are essentially perceived as urban vermin and the outlandish combination of structural components, could be seen as a tongue-in-cheek response to current trends in urban planning. Yet, the pure aesthetic pleasure it provides seems to override any art-referential or societal comment implied. In a press text Scutte can't vouch for "What the pigeons will do to the material". Surely it can't be any worse than what they did to Nelson's hat or the Eurostar tunnel at Waterloo.
Rebecca Geldard
Thomas Schutte
Until 22 June
Frith Street Gallery
17-18 Golden Square
London W1F 9JJ UK
T: +44 (0)207 494 1550
All images courtesy the artist and Frith Street Gallery, London
Photos: Stephen White
Rebecca Geldard is a freelance writer and critic living in London.
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