Exhibitions2011Wax, Sensation in Contemporary Sculpture

The exhibition brought together 16 rising and acknowledged contemporary artists who had all – in their own ways – contributed to the strategy of the wax sculptural praxis.

The sculptures in the show reflected experiments with sensation, immediacy and dialogue. In the light of the evolving sensory praxis, the exhibition, in a compelling and thought-provoking way, produced new experiences of wax as a sculptural material and media for depicting the important issues of our time.

The artworks in the exhibition were grouped according to their cognitive similarities. The themes were: Performing the Iconic, On the Edge of Being, Sensation in WAX, and Body Horror. The wax artworks of the exhibitions had a varying expression, from superrealism, where the sculpture has a surprisingly lifelike presence, to the abstract and minimalistic, where the focal point is the immediate expression of the artwork in relation to the senses of the spectator. Common to all the works in the exhibition is a critical reflection on the historical genres, motifs and expressions of sculptural praxis. Four artworks were created specifically for the exhibition by Christian Lemmerz, Andro Wekua and Emil Westman Hertz as well as Turk’s Somebody’s Son.

The participating artist were: Vanessa Beecroft, Hilary Berseth, Maurizio Cattelan, Michael Elmgreen & Ingar Dragset, Robert Gober, Emil Westman Hertz, John Isaacs, Oleg Kulik, Christian Lemmerz, Kirsten Ortwed, Anne Schneider, Gavin Turk, Brigitte Waldach and Andro Wekua.