We can all appreciate the neoclassical works of Canova and Thorvaldsen as well as more modern sculpture by Auguste Rodin and George Minne. But when it comes to finding the most exciting up-and-coming sculptors working today, we can turn to Kurt Beers for help.
The director of Beers London art gallery in London, Kurt is behind a new book entitled 100 Sculptors of Tomorrow, out next month. It's a culmination of a year-long search to identify the most notable sculptors working across the world today. It also questions the very nature of sculpture and what it can be.
The foreword is written by art historian and critic Richard Cork, who says, "As this book attests with such vigour the artists of today refuse to be constrained in any way by traditional approaches…Sculpture used to be considered a fundamentally ‘tough’ activity, lauding bodily perfection. But practitioners in the twenty-first century are increasingly preoccupied with vulnerability."
Featured sculptors include Chris Bogia, Shane Darwent Mark Whalen, Troika, Haroon Mirza, duo Ghost of a Dream, Zac Harmon, Michelle Segre, Alex Chinnock, Ben Long, Samara Scott, Jack Lavender, Leif Low-Beer, Rachel Ara, and more. They were chosen by a jury of professionals in the field of sculpture via open call submissions and juror recommendation.
"It is not just about creating something for a plinth, but about questioning and reshaping sculpture as a discipline, and rethinking precisely what we – as viewers – have come to expect a sculptor to make," says Kurt. "Sculpture offers us something tangible, physical and material – a way, perhaps, of figuring out how to situate ourselves in a greater context."
The 288-page hardback includes high-quality reproductions of each artist’s work, short texts including biographical information, quotations from the artists themselves plus a further listing of artists to watch, recommended reading, and individual juror picks.
100 Sculptors of Tomorrow is the second book in the series authored by Kurt Beers and published by Thames & Hudson. It will be launched on 3 September.
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