This large-scale exhibition celebrated Franz West, who died in July 2012.
With a focus on West’s combination pieces, which combined and recombined various individual pieces in different configurations.
The exhibition also investigated the connections and parallels between the work of Franz West and Barbara Hepworth. With a playful yet striking intervention into The Hepworth Family Gift gallery, this exhibition placed both artists’ work in conversation: the use of the democratic material of plaster; the significance of the studio environment and the repeated return to reconfiguring and adapting previous work.
Franz West’s participatory practice seeks dialogue with the viewer. His work offers various possibilities for experiencing the world with ever-changing results that depend on recipient and context. This engagement can take place on a physical level — as is the case of his Adaptives which are meant to “adapt” to the body — but also on a mental or intellectual level, as is the case with his installations or works on paper.
In the press
‘Showing the Austrian maverick at the temple to Britain’s greatest female sculptor reveals what a complex and joyous artist he was’ – Adrian Searle, The Guardian
“One of the most tantalising shows you will see all year.” – The Arts Desk
“I predict that this, the first major UK survey of Franz West’s work since his death two years ago, will finally wake us all up to the playful impudence and livewire intelligence of this extraordinary artist.” – The Guardian Guide
Exhibition supported by
The Henry Moore Foundation, Crown Fine Art & Austrian Cultural Forum London.
Where is my Eight? was initiated and co-developed with mumok (Museum moderner Kunst, Vienna) with great enthusiasm from Franz West before his death.
