With just 13% left to go to until they reach their final target, WB Yeats Bedford Park Artwork Project are a community-led arts and education charity working ardently to to honour the Nobel-prize winning poet- WB Yeats.

Commissioned by the grassroots organisation, Conrad has designed Enwrought Light; a contemporary sculpture inspired by the poet’s artistry and legacy. The monument is a physical reflection of Yeats. Taken from the infamous poem He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven, Conrad has extracted a specific series of lines that are of the most inspiration to him. These words will be written in the stone base below the spiralling ascending form and reflected in the manifold fractured pieces of its structure.

“Enwrought with gold and silver light

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

Of night and light and the half-light”

He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven

The only Nobel-Prize-winning poet raised in England, Yeats has no monument anywhere in Britain. WB Yeats Bedford Park Artwork Project want to change this.

The project has been created to not only appreciate the illustrious work of Yeats, but to also bring recognition to the garden-suburb that fostered the creative talent. Acknowledging the pivotal role migrant communities play to enriching Britain’s culture, Enwrought Light transcends celebrating Yeats alone. It will be a destination for locals and visitors alike to be reminded of the unique cultural heritage that exists in Bedford Park. Furthermore, encouraging visitors far and wide to visit the monument as a poetic pilgrimage. If you would like to read more about the admirable cause on the main general website, please click here.

If the project fails to raise the additional £18,000 in the upcoming weeks, then Enwrought Light will not be realised. £10, £20, any amount that you can spare to the pledge, will mean the grassroots organisation will be on target to creating the literary landmark; an incredible moment for both poetry and sculpture. A donation can be made here.

Through reading this post, we hope you also appreciate the importance and value of public artwork in community spaces.

The Measures of Change, Victoria Miro Gallery

Conrad Shawcross new presentation shown at Victoria Miro Gallery, Venice. Coinciding with the opening of La Biennale di Venezia: The 17th International Architecture Exhibition, The Measures of Change features new series of Fracture presentations, Perimeter Studies sculptures, and prints from a new body of work, Studies for The Patterns of Absence.

Sculptures and installations imbued with an appearance of scientific rationality, explore subjects that lie on the borders of geometry and philosophy, physics and metaphysics. The practice analyses extending the possibilities of art in the public realm and in dialogue with architecture.

Conceived especially for the Venice gallery, this exhibition features the most recent examples of Conrad’s Fracture sculptures – ethereal, complex geometric forms that seem almost to disappear as they rise up and expand – a new sequence of Perimeter Studies that explore the geometric properties of the five platonic solids, and a new series of prints inspired by the gallery’s waterside location, which highlight the connections between geometry and natural phenomena in Conrad’s work.

This exhibition features a number of Conrad’s Fracture sculptures in a variety of scales and materials including weathering and stainless steel, and patinated bronze. Borne out of his Paradigms, which are an ongoing exploration of the tetrahedron – a four-sided non-tessellating form and being the simplest of the platonic solids is conceptually the symbol of an indivisible unit of matter – Shawcross’ Fractures are ethereal forms that seem almost to disappear as they rise up and expand. Imbued with references to the manmade and natural worlds, each Fracture contains a central helical stem, a twisting spine that supports a series of branches which in turn support hundreds of triangular leaf-like fragments that dissipate in precise formation.

Explored across various materials, scales and registers of display, the Perimeter Studies have been an integral aspect of Shawcross’ practice over the past decade. This new sequence of ten works, five structural and five solid, explores the geometry and the geometric properties of the platonic solids – the tetrahedron, the octahedron, the cube, the dodecahedron and the icosahedron. Conrad explains, ‘The radiant properties of these five solids are very much defined by the fact that they equally divide up the surface of a sphere. What I’ve done here is pushed and pulled and stretched these surfaces to form these crystalline geometric explorations. They’ve been rendered here in weathered steel to form this very scientific shelf in which the geometries can be compared and contrasted, and defined against each other, like musical notes within a score. They gain their gravitas and their meaning through their juxtaposition with each other.’

A number of new prints, each a Study for the Patterns of Absence, have been inspired by the gallery’s canalside location in Venice. Using algorithms to create interference patterns, which are printed in dynamic sequences that move through a chromatic scale of blues, greens and complementary colours, the artist has arrived at a series of works whose optical effects are reminiscent of the shifting reflected light of the sea.

The Measures of Change, Victoria Miro Venice 19 May–10 July 2021
Tuesday–Saturday: 10am-1pm & 2-6pm
Monday by appointment
No booking is required when visiting the exhibition

Further information can be found out here

November Exhibitions & Events

The London Collective

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“This triple growth projection, which ascends upwards, is about change and entropy, expansion, time and decay.”

– Conrad Shawcross

Conrad is pleased to announce the presentation of his first ever Fracture triptych, Fracture Array (T14C27) (2020), which forms part of his London Collective exhibition with Victoria Miro Gallery. London Collective, a co-operative of multiple galleries, have come together to present extended reality exhibitions on Vortic Collect – an app that allows the public to get a sense of what is going on in art galleries across the UK.

Borne out of his celebrated Paradigms, which are an ongoing exploration of the tetrahedron – geometrically a four-sided non-tessellating form and conceptually the symbol of an indivisible unit of matter – Shawcross’ Fractures are ethereal forms that seem almost to disappear as they rise up and expand. Imbued with references to the manmade and natural worlds, each Fracture contains a central helical stem, a twisting spine that supports a series of branches which in turn support hundreds of fragments that dissipate in precise formation. A distinct temporal aspect is amplified when seen across the three-fold dramatic structure of the triptych, a form that signalling progression echoes the rhythms and cycles of nature.

Conrad’s London Collective exhibition is available to view on the Vortic Collect app until the 24 November 2020, or you can view Fracture Array (T14C27) directly on the Victoria Miro website.

The Big Art Auction 2020

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This week is your chance to register for the The Big Art Auction 2020, to which Conrad has donated his work Manifold Study (Minor Seventh) 16:9 (2019). Organised collaboratively between The Big Issue, Creative Giants and The Auction Collective, The Big Art Auction is a fundraiser of customised Stratocaster guitars and contemporary artwork in order to raise money to support The Big Issue vendors, who are often the most vulnerable and marginalised people in the UK. As a native Londoner, helping fight inequality and homelessness in the city has always been incredibly important to Conrad. The Big Issue provides a means of income for those who experience poverty and social exclusion, and gives them an opportunity to re-engage with their local communities.

The Big Art Auction will be live streamed on Wednesday 4 November 2020. More information on the auction is available here, including details on how to register.

October Exhibitions & Events

Paradigm – B (Structural) at Galerie Marguo, Paris

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Conrad’s work Paradigm – B (Structural) (2019) is now on display and open to the public in the Jardin Arnaud Beltrame in Paris. The piece was installed in celebration of the grand opening of Galerie Marguo – a new gallery in Paris’s historical Le Marais district. This initiative is made in collaboration with the artist and Château La Coste, who included this work in Escalations, a solo exhibition by Shawcross in the summer of 2020. Given the context of the pandemic, it feels more important now than ever to celebrate contemporary arts and culture beyond the gallery space, in public realm of the city.

The title of the work Paradigm refers to the idea of a paradigm shift, identified by the American physicist and philosopher Thomas Kuhn—a leap that jolts us forward and collapses pre-existing notions of what is true. Paradigm – B (Structural) is composed of tetrahedrons, a form with geometric and philosophical potential that has long fascinated Shawcross. Unlike other shapes such as the cube, a tetrahedron cannot tesselate with itself, therefore it cannot ever completely fill a space. Ascending and twisting into a variety of sequences that seem to defy logic, Paradigm – B (Structural) is a very timely artwork to be shown in Paris during these unprecedented times.

Galerie Marguo and Paradigm – B (Structural) are both open and available to view now.

Tomorrow: Patterns of Beauty at Bloomsbury Festival

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Tomorrow, Friday 23 October, Conrad will be participating in an online panel discussion as part of Bloomsbury Festival 2020. A multi-sensory and multidisciplinary evening, Patterns of Beauty will explore the role that patterns play in perceiving beauty in art. For the first part of the evening, Semir Zeki, pioneer of the field of neuroaesthetics, will lead a talk illustrated by live music and a selected gallery of artworks. This will be followed by a discussion with Conrad and artist Giulia Ricci, chaired by Professor Barry Smith, on how philosophers, scientists, artists and the brain itself depend on patterns to understand, explore, create and sense beauty.

The discussion will held via Zoom at 6 – 8pm tomorrow evening, and tickets are available to purchase here.

Secret 7″ at NOW Gallery

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For a second year, Conrad has contributed to Secret 7″, an anonymous charity record sleeve sale where 700 one-of-a-kind 7” singles will be auctioned in order to raise money for Help Refugees. The 700 unique records are currently on display at NOW Gallery in Greenwich Peninsula, before they will be made available to buy on the Secret 7″ eBay store at 9pm on Sunday 25 October. The listings will be live for 7 days, ending shortly after the doors close to the exhibition close on 1 November. The secret is that all the artworks are anonymous – Conrad has chosen Miles Davis’s “Miles Runs the Voodoo Down” as the single for his record sleeve, but if you’re looking for his record you will have to study the sleeves and guess correctly…

Secret 7″ is open now until 1 November 2020.
Further information and tickets to the exhibition can be found here.

The Big Art Auction 2020

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Conrad has donated his work Manifold Study (Minor Seventh) 16:9 (2019) to The Big Art Auction 2020. Organised collaboratively between The Big Issue, Creative Giants and The Auction Collective, The Big Art Auction is a fundraiser of customised Stratocaster guitars and contemporary artwork in order to raise money to support The Big Issue vendors, who are often the most vulnerable and marginalised people in the UK. As a native Londoner, helping fight inequality and homelessness in the city has always been incredibly important to Conrad. The Big Issue provides a means of income for those who experience poverty and social exclusion, and gives them an opportunity to re-engage with their local communities.

The Big Art Auction will be live streamed on Wednesday 4 November 2020. More information on the auction is available here, including details on how to register.

Cure3 Charity Exhibition and Auction 2020

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Cure3 2020, an exhibition devised to raise awareness and funds towards vital research into the cure for Parkinson’s, is open for viewing. Cure3, first established in 2017 and now in its third edition, is curated by Susie Allen and Laura Allen from Artwise and hosted in partnership with The Cure Parkinson’s Trust and Bonhams. The concept for Cure3 remains a unique one – each artist is given a bespoke 20cm3 perspex box in which to create their original artworks. This year over 90 international artists, architects and designers have donated works to the worthy and essential cause.

For Cure3 2020, Conrad has created a pair of sculptures, From that which it came (Twin). In a manner typical to his practice, Shawcross combines philosophical and scientific concepts to create strange, abstract shapes which visually reflect the touch of machines while also containing naturalistic elements. These unusual, hyperbolic forms are part of a series of works, and have been drawn out on a lathe from a rod of nylon. They are a by-product, the result of carving out a conical hole, powerfully describing the perplexing relationship between the centre and periphery of a spinning disk. Dynamic yet self-contained, the twisting and folding sculptures are vibrantly coloured in a way that accentuates their individuality.

The works for Cure3 are available to view online now on the Cure3 website. They can be purchased from tomorrow (8 September) with all proceeds going to The Cure Parkinson’s Trust.

Limited tickets to attend the exhibition at Bonhams, London are available to purchase here.

FINAL CHANCE: “Escalations” at Château La Coste closing 6 September

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This Sunday 6 September is the final chance to see Escalations, an expansive exhibition of works by Conrad Shawcross at Château La Coste (Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade, France). In the exhibition Conrad continues to explore the relationship between geometry and philosophy, physics and metaphysics. Grappling with complex theories, the exhibition challenges the very building blocks of our reality and preconceptions.

In the Old Wine Storehouse Gallery, Conrad has been showcasing a series of large-scale works that form part of his Paradigm series and continue his ongoing experiments and investigations into the tetrahedron and its geometric and philosophical potential. Alongside these, a new set of Fractures are exhibited, realised for the first time at a scale of 4 metres. Distinct in their own right, the Fractures abide by the same geometric parameters and constraints as the Paradigms, but are far more ephemeral, seeming to disappear as they rise up and explode.

In counterpoint to these vertical works, Conrad has installed mechanical piece The Patterns of Absence (2020), which continues his investigations into interference patterns and their effects on our perception. The suspended work is 4m across and comprised of two slowly counter-rotating discs, both perforated using a complex mathematical algorithm. The sum effect allows shifting dappled light to permeate through the voids within their surfaces.

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On the grounds of Château La Coste, Conrad has completed a new permanent and monumental commission. Schism (2020) consists of twenty tetrahedra arranged together to form a sphere. This near-perfect polygonal form, standing over 6 metres in height, comes close to forming an icosahedron, however, the geometry fails to reconcile itself and a deep chasm dominates the form, appearing to be ripping the ideal apart. Realised at this monumental scale, the viewer is able to physically enter the form through the deep cracks in its surface.

The exhibition closes this Sunday 6 September, while Schism is now on permanent display.

Further information and directions can be found here.

Exhibition: “Escalations” Château La Coste, France
Now reopened for weekend viewing

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Conrad’s monumental exhibition ‘Escalations’ at Château La Coste (Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade, France) has reopened following the lockdown in France. ‘Escalations’ has been extended and is currently available to view every weekend, with full viewing hours every day expected to follow soon. The exhibition explores his continued relationship with geometry and philosophy, physics and metaphysics. Grappling with complex theories the exhibition challenges the very building blocks of our reality and preconceptions.

Additionally, Conrad has personally begun assembly and installation of a 6.5m tall permanent artwork, Schism (Château La Coste). This will be available to view by the end of the month. Images of progress so far are below.

Further information about visiting Château La Coste can be found on their website.

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Spirit and Endeavour – Virtual Exhibition
Salisbury Cathedral

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In celebration of the 800th anniversary of the laying of its foundation stones, Salisbury Cathedral is launching a virtual version of their exhibition Celebrating Spirit and Endeavour. The virtual exhibition has been organised in light of the current situation, allowing access to the show while it is closed to the public. The virtual exhibition will remain online until the Cathedral is able to welcome visitors again.

Celebrating Spirit and Endeavour plays host to some of the most notable artists of the 20th and 21st century including Tony Cragg, Lynn Chadwick, Antony Gormley, Shirazeh Houshiary, Henry Moore, Grayson Perry and Conrad Shawcross. As part of a series of sculptures in the grounds of the cathedral, Conrad’s Formation I (The Dappled Light of the Sun) (2015) can be viewed in perfect harmony with the building’s intricate architecture.

Formation I (The Dappled Light of the Sun) forms part of Conrad’s ongoing explorations into the philosophical properties of the tetrahedron. This monumental sculpture is comprised of thousands of interconnected tetrahedra that cascade down in scale as they radiate outwards. Balanced on slender tripods, the geometric structure invites the viewer to navigate its form so that they can understand the interplay between light and dappled shadow cast across the grounds.

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Links to the different elements of the virtual exhibition can be found below.

Salisbury Cathedral – Grounds
Conrad’s work can be found by scrolling through the menu bar at the bottom of the screen, or by navigating through grounds. The work is noted as Formation I.

Salisbury Cathedral – Interior

Digital Exhibition Catalogue

Further information

Isolation with Art UK – Conrad Shawcross, 2020 Patron

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“This unprecedented moment has deprived us of human interaction, culture, and visceral analogue experience, including seeing many of our favourite artworks in person. I always advocate for the experience of seeing a sculpture in the flesh if you can, but while we are on national lockdown this is clearly not possible. I want to direct everyone to the extraordinary resource that is Art UK, who luckily have been working hard since 2003 to digitise our national collection, making it accessible to more people than ever before. Their website offers a variety of different ways to engage with the nation’s unique art collections, while the institutions that house them remain physically closed to the public until further notice. It allows you to search by region, date, or artist to learn more about the art all over the length and breadth of the country, offering up stories behind the artworks and information on the artists. Most recently they have published write-ups on the works of Elizabeth Blackadder, Frida Kahlo and Lubaina Himid in honour of Women’s History Month. They have also just launched ‘The Great British Art Quiz’ in partnership with The Guardian which will see museums, galleries and trusts set a series of questions each day to help you learn more about the works in their collection.” – Conrad Shawcross

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For 2020, Conrad has been selected as the Patron for Art UK, the country’s leading online art platform. Arts education is essential for fostering creative cross-disciplinary thought, leading to innovations across communities. Art UK brings the nation’s art collections into our homes via their growing online platform and the artworks themselves into our schools. They are inspiring the next generation and expanding the educational possibilities of our unique, untapped collections.

2020 is an important year for Art UK as their ambitious sculpture digitisation project comes to fruition. The three-year project will see around 80,000 of the nation’s publicly owned sculptures join their online database, many of which have never been documented before. The UK will be the first country in the world to create a free-to-access online showcase of its publicly owned sculpture, for everyone’s enjoyment, learning and research.

Further information can be found at the following links:

Art UK
The Great British Art Quiz

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Psychogeometries Book Launch

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Psychogeometries is the first major book to consider the conceptual, thematic and material development of Conrad Shawcross’ art, featuring an interview with the artist, an essay by Nick Compton, and richly illustrated with works from throughout Shawcross’ career. Detailing the artist’s enduring influences and interests, in subjects such as mathematics, engineering and robotics, Psychogeometries shows how these, along with considerations of philosophy and metaphysics, have come to fruition in key bodies of work, such as his Dappled Light, Paradigm and, most recently, Fracture sculptures.

Tuesday 11 December 2018
7pm doors open
7:30pm Conrad Shawcross and Nick Compton in conversation
Followed by drinks and book signing

Elephant West, 62 Wood Lane, London W12 7RH
Places are limited; RSVP Essential

Hosted by Victoria Miro and Elephant Publishing

www.conradshawcross.com

The Armory Show 2020

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Victoria Miro is presenting a solo exhibition of works by Conrad Shawcross at the Armory Show 2020, Pier 94, Booth 600. This presentation, which follows the artist’s first solo institutional exhibition in the United States held at Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in 2018, features new and recent examples from major bodies of work.

On display are works from the Paradigm series representing Conrad’s ongoing explorations into the beguiling properties of the tetrahedron. As a building block the tetrahedron behaves as an irrational number, creating sequences that in theory extend into infinity without repetition. Alongside these works two examples from the Fracture series are on display. The Fractures still obey the same geometric parameters as the Paradigm series, yet they remain distinct in their own right, appearing more ethereal and seeming to disappear as they rise up and expand.

Schism is the latest body of work by the artist to investigate the tetrahedron. Each Schism, such as Schism (B) (2019) consists of twenty tetrahedrons assembled together to form a near-perfect polygonal form. While some sides mate perfectly, the form is covered with a deep chasm and a series of fissures. In the spring of this year Shawcross will unveil Schism (Château La Coste) (2020), a new permanent and monumental commission in the grounds of Château La Coste, Provence, France. This iteration of the work will be realised at over six metres in height. At this monumental scale, the form enables the viewer to enter it through the deep cracks in its surface.

Fallen Manifold (Perfect Fourth) 4:3 (2020) and an accompanying set of drawings form part of Shawcross’ Manifold series. These draw on the artist’s interest in harmonics and the mathematics of music to visualise the precise mathematical ratios of musical chords. To create these works Shawcross uses a machine based on the Victorian harmonograph – with its two pendulums that draw the oscillation of a sound wave – to map the complex shape of a specific chord. Shawcross will create a major new Manifold sculpture for the Crossrail Elizabeth line at Liverpool Street, London. The public artwork, to be installed in early 2021, will be positioned outside the Moorgate entrance of the new station.

Bicameral Study (2019) and Formation Study IV (Prevailing Wind) (2018), relate to large-scale public artworks by the artist. Bicameral is a major new public sculpture which was unveiled at the Chelsea Barracks development in London in November 2019. The Formations are a series of works which comprise branching cloud-like forms made up of thousands of tetrahedrons of various sizes held aloft by sets of steel tripods. These were first installed at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, as part of the Summer Exhibition in 2015.

Also on display are a series of unique prints from Shawcross titled Aberration (2018). Referring to the term for a defect in a lens, the works are created by exposing traditional photographic paper to the beam of a laser after it has passed through a fragment of glass. Usually considered a thing to be avoided, these unwanted faults have been deliberately sought by the artist who has projected their shadow onto the paper, in a manner akin to Dorothy Hodgkin’s early crystal radiography experiments and Man Ray’s rayographs.

The Armory Show 2020 continues until Sunday 8th of March.

Shawcross’ work is on display in the Victoria Miro booth, Pier 94, Booth 600.

Opening hours are 12 – 8 pm Thurs & Fri, 12 – 7 pm Saturday, 12 – 6 pm Sunday.

Further information can be here.

Exhibition: “Escalations” Château La Coste – opening 29 February

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Opening on Saturday 29 February, Château La Coste presents an expansive exhibition of works by Conrad Shawcross. The exhibition explores his continued relationship with geometry and philosophy, physics and metaphysics. Grappling with complex theories the exhibition challenges the very building blocks of our reality and preconceptions.

In the Old Wine Storehouse Gallery, Conrad will be showcasing a series of large-scale works that form part of his Paradigm series and continue his ongoing experiments and investigations into the tetrahedron and its geometric and philosophical potential. Alongside these, a new set of Fractures are being exhibited, realised for the first time at a scale of 4 metres. Distinct in their own right, the Fractures abide by the same geometric parameters and constraints as the Paradigms, but are far more ephemeral, seeming to disappear as they rise up and explode.

In counterpoint to these vertical works, Conrad has installed two new mechanical pieces in the exhibition. Nestled in the ceiling of the Old Wine Storehouse gallery sits Slow Fold Inside a Corner (2020). This 3-metre wide kinetic sculpture is comprised of a series of mirrored panels that slowly fold in on themselves, creating a changing and de-stabilising view of the space and the other works contained within it. The Patterns of Absence (2020) continues Conrad’s investigations into interference patterns and their effects on our perception. The suspended work is 4m across and comprised of two slowly counter-rotating discs, both perforated using a complex mathematical algorithm. The sum effect allows shifting dappled light to permeate through the voids within their surfaces.

A final mechanical work is showcased in the Bastide Gallery. Light Perpetual I (2004), is one of Conrad’s earliest mechanical works. Comprised of a handmade wooden articulated arm with a single light bulb at the end, the work rotates at a speed of 200rpm, tracing the path of a particular harmonic ratio. The intensity of this motion causes the loop of light to burn onto the retina, fleetingly revealing its geometry to the viewer. The drawn loop of light attempts to envision the notion of string theory and the concept that matter is made up of continuous loops of energy, rather than simply particles.

On the grounds of Château La Coste, Conrad is creating a new permanent and monumental commission due to be completed this spring. Schism (2020) consists of twenty tetrahedra arranged together to form a sphere. This near-perfect polygonal form, standing over 6 metres in height, comes close to forming an icosahedron, however, the geometry fails to reconcile itself and a deep chasm dominates the form, appearing to be ripping the ideal apart. Realised at this monumental scale, the viewer is able to physically enter the form through the deep cracks in its surface.

A public event marking the opening of the exhibition will take place from 3:30 – 5:30 pm on Saturday 29 February.

Bicameral at Chelsea Barracks, London.

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“Oh what a world of unseen visions and heard silences, this insubstantial country of the mind! What ineffable essences, these touchless rememberings and unshowable reveries! And the privacy of it all! A secret theatre of speechless monologue and prevenient counsel, an invisible mansion of all moods, musings, and mysteries, an infinite resort of disappointments and discoveries. A whole kingdom where each of us reigns reclusively alone, questioning what we will, commanding what we can. A hidden hermitage where we may study out the troubled book of what we have done and yet may do. An introcosm that is more myself than anything I can find in a mirror. This consciousness that is myself of selves, that is everything, and yet nothing at all一 what is it? And where did it come from? And why?”

– Extract from ‘The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind’ (1976)
by Julian Jaynes.

Officially unveiled today, Bicameral (2019) is Conrad’s latest public artwork, situated at Chelsea Barracks in London. The sculpture takes its title from the aforementioned text by Julian Jaynes, in which he theorised that consciousness evolved through our use of language, particularly metaphors. He stated that “these concrete metaphors increase enormously our powers of perception of the world about us and our understanding of it, and literally create new objects.”

The sculpture is a progression of bifurcating and trifurcating elements that fan out from a stem, loosely forming two hemispheres or sides. Conrad has said that “the work is in some ways an Arcadian symbol for reason, humanity, rationalism, progress, and above all hope, whilst the abstract modular structure oscillates between recognisable natural systems such as neural pathways, a set of lungs, or even a schematic tree itself. In the end, it remains elusive to definition.”

Comprised of 693 component parts, reaching 8 metres in height, the structure of the work is created entirely without welding. Instead, it is held together by techniques derived from Japanese wood joinery creating its precise interlocking form, which cascades down in scale as it radiates outwards.

Bicameral is the first public artwork for the newly developed Chelsea Barracks, who commissioned the work with curation by Futurecity. Situated at Dove Place and adjacent to the newly opened Whistler Square, the work is now open to the public, inviting visitors to stop, sit and reflect under the dappled shade created by the complex arching canopy of the sculpture’s branching form.

Bicameral is located at Dove Place, Chelsea Barracks, Belgravia, London, SW1W 8PS.

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When Science Meets Art: Marcus du Sautoy and Conrad Shawcross

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On Wednesday at The Royal Academy of Arts, Conrad will be joined by mathematician Professor Marcus du Sautoy OBE FRS, and BBC presenter Samira Ahmed to discuss how experimentation, curiosity and creative thinking are central to both science and sculpture. Between their mutual fascination with geometry, the talk will draw links between their practices, exploring how themes of possibility, imagination and philosophical thinking are shared by art and science.

This talk is part of a series of events, organised in partnership between the RA and The Royal Society, that questions how emerging technologies can drive artistic practice, how art can develop new approaches to scientific problems, and what makes for a successful collaboration between the two disciplines.

Conrad and Marcus will be signing books in the Burlington Gardens Wohl Entrance Hall, outside Pace Gallery following the event.

The talk takes place from 6:30 – 7:30 pm, Wednesday the 25th of September.

The Golden Lotus (Inverted) at Saatchi Gallery, London

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The Golden Lotus (Inverted) is a commissioned sculpture for ‘Sweet Harmony: Rave | Today’ at London’s Saatchi Gallery, on until 14 September. Along the theme of dance music, Conrad Shawcross presents a simple act of joyful subversion in the form of an elevated overturned vehicle, with a pulsating soundtrack by Mylo. The car, a 1981 Lotus Elite, has been stripped of its engine and typical functions, instead serving as a symbol of 1980s consumerism and idealism literally turned on its head. In the same way that rave culture subverted failed industrial spaces, the artwork transforms a failed and forgotten 80s sports car into a joyous gesture of rebellion.

‘Sweet Harmony: Rave | Today’ is an immersive exhibition that celebrates the birth of dance music and the impact of rave on youth culture today. It is a creative reminder of a special moment in recent British history that recaptures memories from the acid house scene, reliving the transformative powers of music through the voices and the lenses of those who experienced it. Featuring multimedia installations and artworks by some of rave movement’s most prolific and authentic visual commentators, Sweet Harmony brings together contributors from past and present.
SWEET HARMONY LATES – 6 SEPTEMBER 2019, 6-9pm
Featuring live DJ sets from Badgirlz (SP23) – Chris Liberator – Steve Bedlam – Jam Scones

Saatchi Gallery
Duke of York’s HQ
King’s Road
London, SW3 4RY
10am-6pm, 7 days a week

Shawcross’ sculptural work encourages visitors to explore forms beyond their physical boundaries. He is a member of the prestigious Royal Academy and a previous Artist in Residence at the Science Museum between 2009 and 2011. He has exhibited at institutions across the world, including Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, the Museum of Old and New Art in Tasmania, Wadsworth Atheneum in Connecticut, USA, the National Gallery in London, and ARTMIA in Beijing. He has additionally been commissioned for a number of public art projects across the world.

Myles MacInnes (Mylo) is a leading light within the Scottish pantheon of DJs. Famed for his 2004 debut album, Destroy Rock & Roll, Mylo has remixed for artists such as Amy Winehouse, Moby and The Killers. Mylo’s composed piece was combined with Shawcross’ elevated overturned vehicle creating a collaborative immersive installation for ‘Sweet Harmony: Rave | Today’.

Centre Point Letters – Live Charity Auction In Aid of the Homeless 

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The letters that once sat atop the Centre Point Tower have been transformed by a group of artists, following the redevelopment of the building in 2015. Conceived by Almanactar and Patrick Morey-Burrows as a way to restore and preserve them, the resulting artworks will be auctioned this evening at 7 pm in aid of Centre Point, a charity that supports and provides housing for homeless young people in London, Manchester, Yorkshire and the North East. All proceeds from the auction are being donated to the charity.

Conrad’s contribution sees him imbue the letter T with an optic material, its perforated stainless steel surface reacting to changing light conditions, creating a series of undulating patterns as the viewer navigates the work. Conrad chose the letter T “because it felt the most precarious of the letters that were left from the Centre Point sign. A lot of my work towers upwards and grows as it ascends, so this letter seemed to share this structurally perilous potential”.

The full list of artists includes Rob and Nick Carter, Cedric Christie, Charlie Fegan, Nancy Fouts, Laure Prouvost, Conrad Shawcross, Gavin Turk, Jeroen and Joep Verhoeven, Mark Wallinger and Richard Wentworth.

The auction will take place this evening Monday 24 June at 7 pm.

For further information and to take part in the auction please visit
https://theauctioncollective.com/auctions/the-centre-point-letters/

Further information about the charity can be found at https://centrepoint.org.uk/

Chord at The Jute Shed, Halifax – Opening 22 June

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For the first time since 2009, Conrad will be exhibiting Chord at the Jute Shed, part of the vast and historic Dean Clough Mills in Halifax. Originally commissioned by Measure Arts to be displayed in a disused tram tunnel in London, the spectacular installation consists of two large identical machines, each holding 162 spools of coloured cord. In this new context, the work perfectly reflects the rich history of Halifax as a renowned centre for the production and trading of textiles.

As the complex work incrementally moves it invites the viewer to consider the perception of time as both a linear and cyclical notion. Over the course of its display the machines slowly retreat from each other to weave a thick, brightly coloured rope from the hundreds of cords. Each point on the rope can be traced back to the moment it was created, with the final length dependent on the duration of the exhibition.

An accompanying exhibition of related sculpture and drawings can be seen on display at the Piece Hall, including three pieces of rope produced by Chord in 2009 which are part of the Time Rule series. These works are measured not in meters but in minutes; literal lengths of time. Other works in the exhibition include the Celestial Meters (2009), which delve into the history of measurement and France’s creation of the metric system.

Chord and its accompanying exhibition have been co-curated by Sam Clayton, to coincide with the Yorkshire Sculpture International (YSI) – a free, 100-day festival of sculpture taking place across the region.

The exhibition opens on Saturday 22 June at 7.30pm and continues until 21 July.

Further information can be found at http://www.juteshed.com/

Sculpture in Pilane 2019

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Conrad will be exhibiting two major works, Monolith (Optic) (2016) and Optic Labyrinth (2018) as part of Sculpture in Pilane 2019, which opens this Saturday (18 May) in Pilane, Sweden. Both works explore Conrad’s ongoing optical investigations, using a synthesis of engineering, geometry and optics.

Described by Conrad as “a contemporary take on standing stones” Optic Labyrinth sits in between Pilane’s hills and neolithic grave sites, inviting the viewer to weave themselves within its maze-like structure, navigating it as the light breaks and shifts through its mesh surface. Monolith (Optic) finds itself atop a rocky outcrop in the distance, its location enticing viewers to ascend to its position, watching as its surface appears to change upon approach. Both works utilise natural light as a tool, responding to the ever-changing environment around them.

Sculpture in Pilane begins tomorrow 18 May until 29 September 2019.
Further information can be found at http://pilane.org/

Exhibition: Negative Space at ZKM in Karlsruhe, Germany

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Conrad will be exhibiting Slow Fold Inside a Corner (2018) as part of Negative Space: Trajectories of Sculpture, opening on 6 of April at the ZKM Centre for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, Germany. The exhibition is a continuation of a show first staged at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris in 1986, that sought to question “what is modern sculpture?”

Picking up where the Pompidou exhibition left off, Negative Space endeavours to change the dominating view of modern and contemporary sculpture by telling a different story. Focusing on understanding the relationship between sculpture and new definitions of the spatial, the exhibition features the perspectives of more than 200 artists who have pioneered novel approaches to sculpture.

Conrad’s work Slow Fold Inside a Corner (2018) is comprised of a series of mirrored panels that slowly fold in on themselves, creating a changing and destabilising view of the space it is contained within. This invites the viewer to question their own relationship to space, as they watch their reflection slowly refract in the work’s shifting surface.

The exhibition runs from the 6th April to 11th of August 2019.

Further information can be found at https://zkm.de/en/exhibition/2019/04/negative-space

Art Basel, Hong Kong 2019 – Conrad Shawcross

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As part of Art Basel, Hong Kong 2019, Conrad will be showcasing his new series of 45cm Manifold Studies with Victoria Miro Gallery. Conceived as a set of 13, these works continue Shawcross’ exploration of harmonics and the mathematics of music, visualising the precise mathematical ratios of musical chords – such as a major third, perfect fourth or diminished fifth. Each individual work represents a journey through space, charting the existence of the chord as it slowly descends into silence. Using the ratio between two notes, Shawcross takes each chord’s individual rules and logic as a means to represent the auditory as visual.

Art Basel, Hong Kong runs from March 29 – 31, 2019.

Further information: https://www.artbasel.com/hong-kong

Art Dubai 2019 – Conrad Shawcross

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Conrad will be exhibiting two works from his Fracture series as part of Art Dubai 2019 with Victoria Miro Gallery. Additionally, his work Paradigm Slender (Structural) 2016 will be shown as part of the newly established outdoor sculpture programme.

“They perhaps capture an instant after an explosion but before the collapse of the system that they chart, like a Muybridge sequence; the story of a complex system and its expansion from birth to death. One of the key ways that scientists talk about time is in the dispersal of heat, that time is defined by energy dissipating. In this way, these new works also contain a sense of expansion or a loss of heat, which in turn relates to the expansion of the universe and its possible contraction.” – Conrad Shawcross

As an evolution of his Paradigm series, the Fractures continue to mark the further development of Conrad’s research into ideal geometries and questions of time, marrying notions of science, the rational and complex philosophical concepts through a dynamic aesthetic.

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Art Dubai runs from 20th – 23rd March 2019, with the works on view at booth B9 and as part of the outdoor programme.

Further information can be found at http://www.artdubai.ae/

State of the Arts – Selfridges: Conrad Shawcross

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The nine artists commissioned by the Crossrail Art Programme to create a site-specific work at one of the new Elizabeth line stations have been invited by Selfridges London to showcase their work in the windows of the store, celebrating the power of public art.

“It is a picture of a chord falling into silence. It begins its life as this feverish spinning whirlwind and when it gets slower, it gets fatter as the energy in the system dissipates down into the stem which peacefully goes into the ground.”
– Conrad Shawcross

Echoing his upcoming installation for the new Western ticket hall at Liverpool Street station, Conrad’s bronze sculpture Harmonic Manifold 1 (5:4) is placed within the window at Selfridges. The harmonic form of the sculpture has been projection-mapped across all the surrounding surfaces, causing the sculpture to appear immersed in its own dynamic geometry.

The seven and a half-metre-high bronze installation intended for Liverpool Street, Manifold (Major Third) 5:4, draws on an interest in harmonics and the mathematics of music. The origins of its form were created by using a bespoke pendulum-driven machine based on a Victorian harmonograph, which had been originally developed to analyse the vibrations in buildings when the very first Victorian tube tunnels in London were constructed. Ultimately, the work is a visual representation of the Major Third, realised from its energetic beginning until it fades to silence in the ground.

The Selfridges exhibition runs until late March.

Further information and audio tour:
http://www.selfridges.com/GB/en/features/articles/selfridges-guideto/state-of-the-arts/art-trail-landingpage/conrad-shawcross

HENI TALKS – Maths, Alchemy, Art: The Sculptural Practice of Conrad Shawcross
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Conrad Shawcross is critically acclaimed for his sculptural practice which probes the intersections of art, science, maths and philosophy. In his early career, he became renowned for his vast mechanical works, often made in homage to great scientists but in recent years, he has ‘matured’ into the making of static works. Could stasis offer greater possibility for reflection and engagement than movement?

In this HENI Talk, Shawcross tells us about his recent inspiration: moiré. This dazzling mathematical phenomenon, also known as an interference pattern, is something that many creators – from filmmakers to engineers – seek to avoid. Yet Shawcross has harnessed and honed this beguiling phenomenon – at once still and shifting – into sculptures which make us doubt our visual experience. Indeed, Shawcross’s art questions what we may take for granted, encouraging us to see beyond the everyday.

https://henitalks.com/talks/maths-alchemy-art-the-sculptural-practice-of-conrad-shawcross/

With thanks to…
Bloomberg
Mira Calix / The Vinyl Factory
Digital Wasp
Victoria Miro
Northern Town
Royal Academy of Arts, London
Terrace Wires

Archive
The Barnes Foundation
Getty Images

Music
9 Lives
Audio Network

Core Works
Optic Cloak, 2016
Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro – London / Venice
Footage by DigitalWasp

Optic Labyrinth (Arrangement I), 2018
Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro – London / Venice
Footage by DigitalWasp

The Interpretation of Movement (a 9:8 in blue), 2017
Courtesy of the Artist, Victoria Miro – London / Venice and Terrace Wires in partnership with the Royal Academy of Arts

All works © Conrad Shawcross and Victoria Miro – London / Venice

Additional Images
Models (Poseuses)
Georges Seurat, 1886-1888
Barnes Foundation
Public Domain

Prehistoric Stonehenge Monument in the Morning
Raimund Linke / Getty Images

Psychogeometries Book Launch

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Psychogeometries is the first major book to consider the conceptual, thematic and material development of Conrad Shawcross’ art, featuring an interview with the artist, an essay by Nick Compton, and richly illustrated with works from throughout Shawcross’ career. Detailing the artist’s enduring influences and interests, in subjects such as mathematics, engineering and robotics, Psychogeometries shows how these, along with considerations of philosophy and metaphysics, have come to fruition in key bodies of work, such as his Dappled Light, Paradigm and, most recently, Fracture sculptures.

Hosted by Victoria Miro and Elephant Publishing

After the Explosion, Before the Collapse, Victoria Miro Mayfair, 14 St George St, London W1S 1FE, 13 September – 27 October 2018

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Follow Conrad on Twitter and Instagram

Victoria Miro is delighted to announce an exhibition of new works by Conrad Shawcross. After the Explosion, Before the Collapse marks a significant development of the artist’s Paradigm sculptures and features two new mechanical works in addition to a unique new sequence of photographic prints created by firing a laser through a series of faults in glass fragments. United by an aesthetic akin to that of scientific models, the abstract works continue to deal with notions of time, entropy and disappearance.

Conrad Shawcross’s Paradigms are an ongoing exploration of the tetrahedron, geometrically a four-sided non-tessellating form and conceptually the symbol of an indivisible unit of matter. As a building block, the tetrahedron behaves as an irrational number, creating sequences that in theory, extend into infinity without repetition. Major examples include Paradigm, 2016, a permanent installation commissioned by the Francis Crick Institute in King’s Cross, which is one of the tallest public sculptures in central London. The title of the works refers to the notion of the paradigm shift – a leap of imagination that jolts scientific enquiry forwards and collapses pre-existing notions of what is true – identified by the American physicist and philosopher Thomas Kuhn (1922–1996).

The previous series of Paradigms embody the epistemological metaphor of the ascending stack and display a visceral physicality. By contrast, the latest sculptures are far more ethereal, and seem to almost disappear as they rise up and expand. While strikingly distinct both conceptually and aesthetically, the new works still obey the same geometric parameters and constraints and, as a result, the new forms contain a central helical stem. The twisting spine supports a series of branches which in turn support hundreds of fragments that as a whole echo the once solid surface of the Paradigm skin. For Shawcross, an aesthetic of the designed, scientific and the rational serves as a device to cloak more poetic, philosophical and metaphysical themes, which are foregrounded in these new works. A variety of surfaces and materials articulate the field array; dark surfaces counterpoint the reflective or semi-transparent skin to create interference and disruptive reactions to light, all of which further accentuate feelings of dissolution and perplexity, drawing viewers into an ever-changing experience as they move among the works.

Speaking about the new Paradigm works, Shawcross notes that ‘A potential way to think of them is as some sort of complex model by a scientist or a mathematician. While they appear to be functional or of rational intent, their meaning remains elusive. They contain a temporal element that seems to convey growth, entropy or collapse. On one side they could represent a complex chemical such as a protein chain or amino acid, but to complicate this interpretation, a strong sense of the passage of time runs through the form. They perhaps capture an instant after an explosion but before the collapse of the system that they chart, like a Muybridge sequence; the story of a complex system and its expansion from birth to death. One of the key ways that scientists talk about time is in the dispersal of heat, that time is defined by energy dissipating. In this way, these new works also contain a sense of expansion or a loss of heat, which in turn relates to the expansion of the universe and its possible contraction. This preoccupation aligns with the concerns of my previous works, such as the early rope machines.’

Placed above the new Paradigms is Folding Shield, 2018, a new mechanical work that, displayed in a corner of the gallery, slowly folds in on itself, its mirrored, petal-like surfaces creating an incrementally changing and destabilising view of the gallery and the other works contained within it. Displayed in the gallery window, Optoscope, 2018, is the culmination of years of investigation into interference and disrupted surfaces created through a moiré pattern. Two perforated surfaces come in and out of phase to create a shifting pattern that appears almost holographic as it swarms and evolves, reacting to the movements of viewers passing by and the changing play of light upon it. The work makes use of similar techniques developed in sculptures such as Optic Labyrinth (Arrangement I), on display as part of Frieze Sculpture 2018.

Referring to the term for a defect in a lens, Aberrations are a new series of unique prints created by exposing traditional photographic paper to the beam of a laser after it has passed through a fragment of glass. Usually considered a thing to be avoided at all costs, Shawcross has deliberately sought to find these unwanted faults and projected the shadow of them onto the paper, akin to Dorothy Hodgkin’s early crystal radiography experiments and Man Ray’s rayographs. The Aberrations point to the creative potential of failed or imperfect models as art, just as Shawcross’s use of failed or ambiguous models and machines throughout his career has been informed not by failure per se but by our capacity to perceive. In tandem, materials more commonly associated with bulk, mass and inflexibility, transform in the artist’s hands to the delicate and mercurial; acting as vehicles to prompt some of our most enduring questions about our place in the universe.

Frieze Sculpture 2018, Regent’s Park, London, 4 July – 7 October 2018

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Frieze Sculpture returns to Regent’s Park for three months this summer, featuring works by 25 contemporary and modern artists, presented by world-leading galleries and selected by Clare Lilley (Director of Programme, Yorkshire Sculpture Park).

Conrad Shawcross will be exhibiting Optic Labyrinth (Arrangement I) a brand new, immersive installation, commissioned specially for the event and presented by Victoria Miro Gallery.

Frieze Sculpture 2018
English Gardens of Regent’s Park, London, UK
5am-9:30pm Jul, 5am-9pm Aug, 5am-8pm Sep, 5am-7pm Oct
www.frieze.com/sculpture

MATRIX 179, Wadsworth Atheneum, Connecticut, USA, 21 June – 21 October 2018

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MATRIX 179 marks Conrad’s first museum exhibition in America, and features the colossal sculpture Monolith (Optic) on Main Street in front of the museum. The accompanying installation will include additional sculptures, models, related drawings, and a new, slow-moving light machine.

Artist Gallery Talk | with Conrad Shawcross
Thursday 21 June 2018
Opening reception: 5pm
Artist talk: 6pm
Free admission

Curator Gallery Talk | with Patricia Hickson
The Emily Hall Tremaine Curator of Contemporary Art
Friday 3 August: Midday
Free with museum admission

Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, 600 Main Street, Hartford, CT 06103
11am-5pm Wed, Thu & Fri | 10am-5pm Sat & Sun
www.thewadsworth.org

Art Capital: Art for the Elizabeth line, Whitechapel Gallery, London, 13 March – 6 May 2018

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In the first overview of the Crossrail artworks, material such as maquettes, sketches and prototypes are displayed in the gallery’s project and archive spaces. The exhibition reveals the artists’ ideas and the complex process for turning artistic proposals into deliverable public art.

The exhibition includes a maquette and drawings by Conrad Shawcross, reflecting the development of his proposed Manifold 5:4 piece, which will be sited outside the Moorgate entrance of the Liverpool Street station of the new Elizabeth line.

Whitechapel Gallery 77-82 Whitechapel High St London E1 7QX
11am-6pm Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat & Sun | 11am-9pm Thu
www.whitechapelgallery.org

Crossrail Art Programme Commission, London, announced 13 March 2018

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Conrad Shawcross has been unveiled as one of the final two artists selected to create a major new work of art for the Crossrail Art Programme; a unique series of nine public artworks that are being integrated into seven stations of the new Elizabeth line, due to open in December this year.

Manifold 5:4, 2018, will be a bronze sculpture positioned outside the Moorgate entrance of the Liverpool Street station. Taking inspiration from musical harmony, Shawcross has used a machine based on the Victorian harmonograph (with its two pendulums that draw the oscillation of a sound wave) to map the complex shape of a specific piano chord that is falling into silence.

www.crossrail.co.uk/news

Harbour Arts Sculpture Park, Hong Kong, 22 February – 11 April 2018

Paradigm (Solid), 2014, Kitmin-Lee The Dappled Light of the Sun I, 2015, Kitmin-Lee

Hong Kong’s first international sculpture park, Harbour Arts Sculpture Park transforms Hong Kong’s iconic harbour front with artworks by established and emerging local and international contemporary artists. The display includes two works by Conrad: The Dappled Light of the Sun, I, 2015 and Paradigm (Solid), 2014.

Harbour Arts Sculpture Park, Tamar Park, Harcourt Road, Admiralty, Hong Kong
www.harbourarts.hk

Frieze Sculpture Park, Regent’s Park, London, 14 – 17 October 2015


Conrad Shawcross’ The Dappled Light of the Sun, 2015 will be installed in Regent’s Park as part of Frieze Sculpture Park . Selected by Clare Lilley (Director of Programme, Yorkshire Sculpture Park), Frieze Sculpture Park 2015 comprises 16 new and historical works, set in the English Gardens between Frieze Masters and Frieze London.

Frieze London, Stand B3, 14 – 17 October 2014


Victoria Miro will show a selection of works by Conrad Shawcross at Frieze London.

GLOBALE: EXO-Evolution, ZKM, Karlsruhe, 31 October 2015 – 28 February 2016


Conrad Shawcross’ The Blind Aesthetic, 2011 features in this exhibition, which focuses on the artistic use of new technologies and opens up views into the future, in various modules.
The Dappled Light of the Sun at Beyond Limits, Chatsworth House, 14 September – 25 October


And talk on 20 Sept

Sensory Systems, Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool, 12 September – 7 November 2015

Light Show, Sharjah Art Centre, 21 September – 11 December 2015

Inverted Spires and Descending Folds, Victoria Miro Gallery II, 10 June – 31 July 2015

Victoria Miro will present an exhibition of new sculptures in steel and cast bronze by Conrad Shawcross this summer. Considered “maquettes” – some for realised commissions, and others propositions for works on a monumental scale – this body of work focusses on two lines of enquiry: Shawcross’s ongoing explorations of the four-sided tetrahedron as a tessellating form in his Paradigm series, and the dynamic visual potential of harmonics in his Manifold works. Installed as a singular sculptural field, the works bear relationships to both architecture and the body, and elicit a subtle line between structure and nature, the metaphysical and the molecular.

Commission for Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, 8 June – 16 August 2015

Conrad Shawcross will create a new site-specific installation for the Annenberg Courtyard for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2015. Entitled The Dappled Light of the Sun, the large-scale, immersive work will consist of a group of five steel ‘clouds’ which will inhabit the courtyard’s central space. The branching cloud-like forms will be made up of thousands of tetrahedrons and stand at over six metres high and weigh five tonnes each.

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Conrad Shawcross, The Dappled Light of the Sun, 2015 in production.
Photograph by Marc Wilmot. Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro Gallery, London.

Solo Exhibition, New Art Centre, 23 May – 26 July 2015

From 23 May – 26 July 2015 Conrad Shawcross will be showing a body of work at the New Art Centre, Roche Court, Wiltshire.

Proportio, Palazzo Fortuny, Venice, 9 May – 22 November 2015

The exhibition PROPORTIO examines the role that proportion plays in our lives and the complex universe in which we live, and includes Manifold 9:8, 2012, by Conrad Shawcross.

Counterpoint, Dulwich Picture Gallery, until 14 June 2015

To coincide with the launch of Three Perpetual Chords, the Dulwich Picture Gallery will display a selection of smaller maquettes of the park works, Three Perpetual Chord Studies. The light work Counterpoint, 2006 is also on display in the gallery’s mausoleum space.

Three Perpetual Chords, Dulwich Park, London. Launch at 2pm, 18 April 2015

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A new series of sculptures by Conrad Shawcross will be unveiled in Dulwich Park in London on 18 April 2015.

The sculptures, entitled Three Perpetual Chords, have been commissioned by Southwark Council in partnership with the Contemporary Art Society, as a public art legacy to the Two Forms Divided Circle Barbara Hepworth sculpture stolen from the park in 2011.

Three Perpetual Chords draws from the artist’s ongoing study of harmonics and represent The Octave, The Fifth and The Fourth within the Western harmonic scale. They will form a trail in the northern end of the park, with each just visible from the last, and will rest lightly on the grass, emphasising the juxtaposition between an industrial material and its arcadian environment.

The knot-like sculptures are cast in spheroidal cast iron – a ductile material used within urban settings  – which in time react to their environment, forming colours of deep red, blue/blacks and browns, and areas of polished silver where they are frequently touched or sat on.

Conrad Shawcross said: “It has been a great pleasure to make a new, permanent commission for Dulwich Park. Three Perpetual Chords are a counterpoint to a traditional civic sculpture in that the loops invite approach, play and physical interaction. These knot-like forms host a void within them and this is a subtle reference to Hepworth’s work, in which the hole is ubiquitous. I hope they become meeting points, romantic destinations, and encourage playfulness while remaining beguiling and provoking figures on the horizon.”

For more information and a short video about the making of the work, please click here.

Three Harmonic Projections, Careyes Foundation, Mexico until 17 February 2015

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Conrad Shawcross has recently undertaken a residency as part of the Contemporary Art and Community Program in Careyes Mexico. Shawcross worked for one month to stage a site-specific project at the Careyes Art Space as well as to collaborate with school children from the area through a series of arts educational workshops.

The artist’s larger practice is invested in negotiating the intersections of the fields of philosophy and science. These Platonistic investigations and experiments give rise to poetic and formalist sculptures and installations. His lexicon relies on a vacillating relationship between the empirical and the uncertain.

On view at the Careyes Art Space is an iteration of an ongoing series of Plosion sculptures comprised of aluminum and stained glass, studies in the ideal, the real, the cosmological, the temporal and the phenomenological. These constructivist objects are diagrammatic and enact an ambivalence that sits somewhere between becoming or coming undone, or in the words of the artist “explosion or implosion.” At the heart of the project in Careyes is a machine comprised of steel mesh, a mechanical system and light, a rendition of the piece Slow Arc Inside a Cube. This machine materializes Plato’s cave composed of light, cage and shadow. The final intervention produced in conjunction with local artisans, the artist describes as a monumental instrument, a harmonograph. It is this central work that has served as the instrument used for the artist’s workshops in dialogue with local school children to produce an archive of drawings generated from this elemental sculptural device. In collaboration with Shawcross, each student has created a drawing working with this machine.

Da Vinci: Shaping the Future, ArtScience Museum, Singapore, 15 November 2014 – 17 May 2015

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Da Vinci: Shaping the Future takes a bold and contemporary approach to the life and genius of Leonardo da Vinci. Beyond the presentation of original masterpieces from Da Vinci’s renowned Codex Atlanticus, five contemporary art installations are included in the exhibition, including Conrad Shawcross’ Projections of the Perfect Third.

Primal Architecture, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, 8 November 2014 – 1 March 2015

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Primal Architecture borrows its title from an iconic work by Mike Kelley, Primal Architecture, 1995. It includes artworks by Mike Kelley, Jeremy Deller, Conrad Shawcross, Kevin Atherton, Linder, Jesse Jones and Bedwyr Williams.

Light Show at Aukland Art Gallery, 11 October 2014 – 8 February 2015

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Light Show, Aukland Art Gallery, New Zealand, until 8 February 2015 and MCA Sydney, 16 April – 5 July 2015
Light Show explores the experiential and phenomenal aspects of light. The exhibition includes Slow Arc Inside a Cube IV, 2009, by Conrad Shawcross.

Conrad Shawcross – Timepiece at Berwaldhallen, Stockholm extended until May 2015

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Timepiece is currently installed at Berwaldhallen, Stockholm above the Swedish Radio Orchestra as part of the Interplay season. The work will remain at the concert hall until the season finale on 21 May, featuring Bejamin Britten’s Requiem and a lecture by Simon Schama.

The Vinyl Factory and Conrad Shawcross present The Ada Salon

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Collaborators:
Dillon & Clervaux
Holly Herndon
Mira Calix
Tamara Barnett-Herrin & Mylo11 – 19 October 2014 | Monday – Sunday | 11am – 5pm
23 – 31 October 2014 | Thursday – Sunday | 11am – 5pmThe Vinyl Factory Space at Brewer Street Car Park, London W1F 0STSpecial presentation of works by Conrad Shawcross, Idris Khan & Yayoi Kusama at Schloss Sihlberg

 

This special presentation by Victoria Miro in Schloss Sihlberg, Zürich considers the work of three artists, Idris Khan, Yayoi Kusama and Conrad Shawcross, focussing on an intersection of their practices through the use of abstraction and repetition. The presentation runs from 14 – 22 June 2014.

Conrad Shawcross solo exhibition at ARTMIA, Beijing

Solo exhibition entitled Geometry of Mind at the ARTMIA Foundation, Beijing until 28 August 2014.

Conrad Shawcross at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition

Conrad Shawcross, who was recently named a Royal Academician, presents work at this year’s Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London from 9 June – 17 August 2014.

Epicentre: conversations and discussions between artists at Parra & Romero, Ibiza

Conrad Shawcross exhibiting at Parra & Romero as part of the group show Epicentre: conversations and discussions between artists from 31 May – 15 September 2014.

Conrad Shawcross named as Dulwich Park commission winner

Three Perpetual Chords, has been selected from a shortlist also including proposals by artists Anya Galaccio, Ryan Gander and Eva Rothschild. Following a public consultation in which over 400 people gave their views about the new sculpture both online and through an on-site exhibition in the park, the Dulwich Park Commission Steering Group discussed the outcome and came to a consensus to name Shawcross as the artist who best fits the commissioning principles originally set out.

Three Perpetual Chords proposes a series of cast iron sculptures, each created in relation to the mathematical patterns found in music. The artist describes these forms as “visual descriptions of musical chords.” Roughly human height, the sculptures will be sequenced, leading visitors through an unexpected series of encounters in the park.

Conrad Shawcross: The ADA Project at MOFO, Tasmania, 15 – 19 Janurary 2014

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For more information and tickets click here
For Mira Calix’s commission for The ADA Project we gratefully acknowledge financial support from PRS for Music Foundation.

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