Thinking big: Concepts for twenty-first century British sculpture
September 6, 2002 - January 6, 2003
Press conference: 5th September 5 pm, Peggy Guggenheim Collection
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, in association with Sculpture at Goodwood, announces its forthcoming exhibition thinking big: concepts for twenty-first century british sculpture. The exhibition, to be opened by Lord Foster of Thames Bank on 5th September 2002 prior to the preview of this year’s 8th Venice International Biennale of Architecture, will run until 6th January 2003.
Arguably one of the most comprehensive surveys of contemporary British sculpture ever mounted, thinking big: will present 86 small-scale works by 73 artists born in seven different decades of the twentieth century. Produced in every conceivable material, from marble, wood and bronze to rubber, resin and photgraphic paper, the works both reveal and celebrate the remarkable diversity and innovation of sculpture in Britain today.
In addition to an existing collection of models of works previously commissioned and realized on a larger scale at Goodwood, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and Sculpture at Goodwood have commissioned some 32 new maquettes expressly for the Venice exhibition. These works are intended as ‘dress rehearsals’ for monumental sculptures and will be displayed within an elegant and innovative architectural installation designed by Alex Welch. Work by renowned British artists including Rachel Whiteread, Sir Anthony Caro, Tony Cragg and Marc Quinn, will be shown alongside that of sculptors such as Jon Isherwood, Eilis O’Connell, Sally Matthews, Peter Burke and others of growing international reputation.
As a complement to the exhibition of maquettes in the indoor galleries, a series of larger works will be shown in the Peggy Guggenheim Collection sculpture garden. Newly-commissioned works by William Pye, Andy Goldsworthy and Tony Cragg, whose monumental travertine marble One Wayor Another (2002) will be shown on the museum’s Grand Canal terrace, will join other important works by British sculptors – Caro, Henry Moore, Sir Eduardo Paolozzi and Barry Flanagan - belonging to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher Collection.
The exhibition will be accompanied by two new publications: a 230-page catalogue including 160 colour photographs and essays by Rod Mengham and Tim Marlow, Creative Director of Sculpture at Goodwood; and vision for twenty-first century british sculpture, a 600-page survey of work at Goodwood over the past ten years.
A debt of thanks is owed to Corriere della Sera and Würth Italia, who have contributed generously to the exhibition’s realisation. Thanks also to Apple Italy for the technical assistance.
Conceived in 1992, the Sculpture at Goodwood project has made an increasingly important contribution towards the development and promotion of contemporary British sculpture to an international audience. Sculpture at Goodwood’s charitable foundation is dedicated to the promotion of British sculpture through a dynamic programme of commissioning large-scale works. The Foundation, through its website www.sculpture.org.uk, constitutes a progressive and important archive and educational resource in the unfolding history of sculpture from Britain. The thinking big: exhibition in Venice is intended to be the first of a series of international projects organised by Sculpture at Goodwood including the opening of a permanent exhibition space in central London.
The Sculpture at Goodwood Foundation is funded solely by its founders Wilfred and Jeannette Cass.
Banca del Gottardo is an Institutional Patron of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection