Exhibitions

Brassaï’s Paris at Night unfolds the city as theatre, its shadows alive with drama, tenderness, and intrigue. This exhibition presents fifteen vintage gelatin-silver prints, each hand-printed by the artist in the 1970s and recently acquired from Marlborough Gallery.

From the charged intimacy of Le bal des invertis au Magic-City (1932) to the quarrels and laughter of the musette dance halls on rue de Lappe, Brassaï reveals Paris’s nocturnal margins with both empathy and precision. His lens makes light itself the protagonist: lamplight, neon, reflections, all choreographing encounters between lovers, strangers, and outcasts.

These prints are not only images but testimonies — material artifacts marked by Brassaï’s own curatorial hand. Encountered today, they remain startlingly modern: proposing the city at night as a stage where desire, solitude, and community continue to negotiate their fragile balances.

Materiality and Modern Life

The exhibition draws attention to the transformative power of industrial materials in the hands of visionary sculptors. Ron Arad’s fluid, futuristic steel creations challenge the notion of fixed form, merging art and design to blur the boundaries of function. Bill Woodrow similarly engages with industrial debris, turning discarded objects into powerful reflections on mass consumption and environmental impact.

César’s "Compressions" series, where crushed automobiles and metal objects are refashioned into sculptural forms, offers a stark commentary on consumerism and waste in modern society. As César once stated, “The material reflects the speed and violence of our time,” encapsulating his critique of industrial excess (César Retrospective, Centre Pompidou). Quinn’s sculptures evoke the beauty of the natural world, frozen in time, while simultaneously commenting on the fragility of our ecosystems.

Nature, Shadow, and the Human Figure

A central focus of LIGHT AND SHADOW is the human form, often caught in the tension between the mechanical and the organic. Elisabeth Frink’s monumental sculpture of a running man captures a moment of raw, physical energy, embodying the primal urge to move forward while casting long shadows on the path behind. Frink’s powerful figure embodies themes of survival and human vulnerability, standing in contrast to the industrial materials of her peers, yet deeply connected to the elemental forces of nature.
In a similar vein, Anthony Gormley’s sculptures, which often depict the human form in meditative stillness, confront questions of identity, embodiment, and space. Gormley’s works invite viewers to consider the weight of the body in relation to the earth, while Henry Moore’s iconic organic forms reflect on the eternal bond between human life and the natural world. Moore’s sculptures, inspired by natural elements, bridge the gap between modern industrialization and humanity’s timeless connection to the landscape.

As Moore famously said, “The human figure is central to my sculpture; it reflects our place within the natural world” (Henry Moore: Writings and Conversations), a sentiment that resonates throughout the exhibition.

Bridging Past and Present
Through works by artists such as Paul Gauguin and Eric Kennington, LIGHT AND SHADOW offers a historical foundation for contemporary explorations of material, form, and nature. Gauguin’s sculptural work, informed by his experiences in Tahiti, presents an organic, almost mythic connection to the natural world, while Kennington’s war memorial sculptures speak to the power of art in commemorating historical events.

By uniting these historical works with contemporary sculptors, LIGHT AND SHADOW illustrates how the medium of sculpture transcends time—addressing universal themes of creation, destruction, and humanity’s place between the forces of nature and the machine.

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Exhibitions

Bill Brandt - Stones & curves

Brassaï - PARIS AT NIGHT

Springs Blue Featuring; Moore, Picasso, Bonnard, Braque, Duchamp & More

Grob Gallery at THE PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW by AIPAD 2024

STREIK !

French Photography

GRÉGOIRE MÜLLER - ALL OVER THE PLACE

PASCAL BERTHOUD

GAUGUIN, TAHITI & PHOTOGRAPHY

ANDRE KERTESZ / BILL BRANDT

LANDSCAPES

BEAUTIFUL, USEFUL, LOVE

Silence Stronger Than Thunder

NUDES

WILLIAM KLEIN

Sculpture: LIGHT AND SHADOW

Polaroid: The photographers sketch. Helmut Newton, Araki, Ralph Gibson, William Klein, Andy Warhol and more!

SIEFF + HASKINS

The Spring of Escapism

The Spring of Escapism

Marc Quinn - Sculptures & Paintings

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