Thomas Schutte’s exhibition ‘Faces and Figures’ opened this September at The Serpentine Gallery, in the beautiful surroundings of Kensington Gardens, London. German born artist Schutte presented drawings, sculptures and photographs, some pieces made especially for The Serpentine. ‘Vater Staat’, an over powering, masculine, god like sculpture stands in the centre of one room. Surrounding this tremendous beast, wall to wall are close up photographs of faces.These faces feed a haunting vision of gargoyles and nighttime creatures.
The photographs are framed and positioned high on the walls, allowing the viewer to just about focus on the image, and allowing the faces to look down making the viewer feel very small, insignificant and honoured. The haunting images of these sculptural faces create a celestial atmosphere, that of a place of worship. Scattered throughout the exhibition are his drawings, which create a sense of calm compared to the intense nature of ‘Vater Staat’.
For images and more information on The Serpentine Gallery, https://www.serpentinegallery.org/2012/11/thomas_schutte.html.
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