WORK OF THE WEEK: Barry Flanagan, Guggenheim Pair, 1984
Barry Flanagan
Guggenheim Pair, 1984
Bronze
61 x 91.4 x 45.7 cm
24 x 36 x 18 in.
(in two parts)
Edition 1 of 5 plus 3 artist's casts
Well known for his sculpture depicting expressive, anthropomorphic hares in movement, Barry Flanagan’s Guggenheim Pair stands out as an allusion to his inventive approach to materials and sculptural form. In 1982, when Flanagan represented the United Kingdom at the Venice Biennale he observed two stone sea-horses placed on the Grand Canal terrace of Palazza Venier dei Leoni, home to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. In Guggenheim Pair, Flanagan references these statues, whilst also evoking his early use of materials like sand, clay and cloth. The creature's tails twist around as if giant hands have crushed the bronze.
Born in Prestatyn, North Wales in 1941, Barry Flanagan graduated from Saint Martin’s School of Art in 1966. In his early practice he was associated with emergent art movements of the time, including Arte Povera, Land Art, and Process Art. In 1991 he was awarded an OBE, and elected to the Royal Academy of Arts. A major retrospective of his work was held at the Fundación ‘La Caixa’, Madrid, in 1993, and another, following his death, at Tate Britain in 2011. His work has been shown in many solo shows including at MoMA, New York, Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and at the Royal Academy of Arts, London. Recent exhibitions include In Contemplation, at the Gow Langsford Gallery in Auckland, New Zealand (2022); Barry Flanagan at Von Bartha in Basel, Switzerland (2021), and Barry Flanagan: Pataphysics and Play, at Kasmin Gallery, New York (2023).
Barry Flanagan’s work is held in numerous public collections worldwide, including at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Japan; Tate Britain, London; Arts Council of England; the British Council; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Park, USA; the Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Netherlands; the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; and the Royal Academy of Arts, London.