Events

Georg Herold introduced the human figure to his practice in 2008, with his first mannequin made from wooden roof battens. Shortly after, the artist began to wrap these ostensibly genderless structures in fabric before treating them with artificial-looking car finish. In such works, the underlying wooden skeleton becomes visible through contact with the fabric stretched over it, producing sharp edges and angles. Attractive and disquieting, Herold’s figures are dehumanised, and adopt a range of poses – at times with force – which were previously summarised as an ‘epic struggle: in protest, agony, observation, or seduction with an invisible opponent.’

Untitled, 2015, is a large-scale example of Herold’s uncompromising, psychologically resonant exploration of the body. Here, more suggested than depicted, a figure can be seen kneeling in an unnaturally stretched exercise. Cast in bronze, the present work is endowed with a definite character, further emphasising the artist‘s renewed engagement with the tradition of sculpture.