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15/2/2002

Second Skin

Henry Moore Institute, Leeds

Historical Life Casting and Contemporary Sculpture

Second Skin explores the connections between the process of life casting and figurative sculpture. The exhibition also provides an opportunity to compare how casting was used by nineteenth century sculptors and how it is used today. Historical examples have been selected from a survey exhibition at the Musée d’Orsay entitled A Fleur de Peau. As the interest in life casting has been revived, the Institute displays these historical pieces alongside sculptures from the 1970s and 80s by Duane Hanson, John De Andrea, Paul Thek and Robert Gober, and contemporary examples by Jordan Baseman, Don Brown, Siobhan Hapaska, Abigail Lane, Sarah Lucas, Marc Quinn and Gavin Turk.

In the nineteenth century the use of life casts was a standard part of artistic practice. Casting could, however, be a controversial topic. Although it was acceptable for a sculptor to combine modelling and casting, a direct cast could not be presented as a finished artwork. Sometimes, the polemic became public - the scandal surrounding Rodin’s ‘Age of Bronze’ being the most famous occasion. As well as casts from this period made by artists for their own use, the exhibition includes a small selection of academic, phrenological and ethnographical casts, alongside medical, zoological and botanical examples to illustrate how widespread the art of casting was.

Interest in realism and life casting re-emerged in America in the 1970s and 80s. Technological advances meant Hanson and De Andrea had diverse materials at their disposal and could achieve new levels of realism. Their highly imitative sculpture was subject to criticism - nearly a hundred years after Rodin - as if casting was still regarded as cheating. There now seems little doubt that a figurative sculpture by Brown, Turk or Hapaska can be regarded as ‘conceptual’ and that realism is a point of departure for other concerns and considerations. Their work allows the viewer to scrutinise the human face and figure and to muse on the fundamental facts of life and death, as well as transient aspects of contemporary culture - like fame and beauty.

Second Skin explores ideas of fragmentation, surface, colour and realism and the effects of casting on portraiture and figuration - continuing a line of inquiry which, for the Institute, began with the exhibitions Return to Life and Taking Positions.

The exhibition has been organised in collaboration with the Musée d’Orsay, Paris; Kunsthalle, Hamburg and the Museo Vela, Ligornetto.

Second Skin is complemented by the smaller exhibition Shine: Sculpture and Surface in the 1920s and 30s in the Study Galleries, Leeds City Art Gallery, which draws from the sculpture collections of Leeds Museums and Galleries, as well as from public and private collections, to explore how making a sculpture shine affects its meaning.

The use of surface in the 1920s and 30s became a strong consideration, as themes of reflection, regeneration and new beginnings were being explored by sculptors of the day. Fourteen examples, including sculptures by Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Gertrude Hermes, Leon Underwood, Maurice Lambert, J.D. Fergusson, F.E. McWilliam and Carter Preston, have been selected to illustrate new ways of exploring concepts of movement, music, wealth and value through the treatment of a sculpture’s surface.

Opening hours: Monday - Sunday 10.00 - 17.30 Wednesdays to 21.00 Closed Bank Holidays

For further information and images please contact Mary Minshull Tel: 0113 246 7467/ fax: 0113 246 1481 or by mail

The Henry Moore Institute
74 The Headrow, LS1 3AH
Leeds
telephone +44 (0)113 246-7467
facsimile +44 (0)113 246-1481

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