ART-PREVIEW:Leonor Antunes
Engaging with the histories of 20th Century architecture, design and art, the work of Leonor Antunes reflects on the functions of everyday objects, contemplating the potential of Modernist forms to be materialized as sculptures. Antunes investigates the coded values and invisible flow of ideas embedded within objects, transforming them into reimagined abstract structures.
By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Whitechapel Gallery Archive
Leonor Antunes’ work methodology involves the use of pre-existing elements and objects, which in many but not all cases are of architectural origin. She investigates what occurs when they are duplicated and/or relocated into time and spatial contexts that are foreign to them, and what new feelings and emotions they acquire upon such displacement. Taking its title from British architect Alison Smithson’s description of how young people bring together elements of style to define their identity and social allegiances, “The frisson of the togetherness” is the title of Leonor Antunes’ first solo exhibition in a public gallery in the UK, it is a new site-specific commission by Whitechapel Gallery. Antunes’ new commission is informed by two sculptors who lived in London: Mary Martin and Lucia Nogueira, Antunes has undertaken extensive research into both artists and their practice, and while both were known for their sculpture, Martin also made works on paper and weavings and Nogueira made jewellery. A number of hanging and floor-based sculptures made from materials including metal, leather and rope fill the space, illuminated by lights designed by the artist. The gallery floor is covered by an enlarged geometric pattern based on a drawing by Martin, and is made of cork and linoleum. Taking the form of open grids, the sculptures serve as screens or dividers, creating layers and influencing the viewer’s experience of the space. Lucia Nogueira created artworks using materials collected, adapted and juxtaposed with other everyday objects, found in the street or in junk shops. Examples of her jewellery are presented in sculptural glass display.
Info: Curator: Lydia Yee, Assistant Curator: Habda Rashid, Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High Street, London, Duration: 3/10/17-9/4/18, Days & Hours: Tue-Wed & Fri-sun 11:00-18:00, Thu 11:00-21:00, www.whitechapelgallery.org
