Archives
Thomas Houseago
THOMAS HOUSEAGO, GIANT FIGURE (CYCLOPS), 2011
courtesy of the ARTISTE ET XAVIER HUFKENS, BRUXELLES
© photo : damien aspe
Pernnial work
Thomas Houseago's sculptures invest the spaces for which he designs them with primal energy, showing their textures and revealing their creative process - etching, casting, pouring, establishing an immediate dialogue with the viewers. Trained at Martin's School of Art in London and the "Ateliers" in Amsterdam, the artist is a robust sculptor, as reflected in his often monumental productions in wood, bronze and plaster, powerful and expressive portraits of characters with unexpected shapes and postures. Radical in his conservatism, the artist turns our contemporary notions of sculpture on their head with works that embrace both the history and immediacy of his hand.
For le Printemps de septembre 2011, he produced several new pieces for several venues in Toulouse, including Giant Figure (Cyclop), a large totemic figure for the DRAC Occitanie courtyard, now visible on the Allées Jules Guesdes in front of the Théâtre Sorano.
Born in 1972 in Leeds (UK), he lives and works in Los Angeles. A major figure on the international art scene, his work has been exhibited at the Grand Palais (Paris, 2017), the National Gallery of Canada (Montreal, 2017), Rockefeller Center Plaza, New York (2015), Galleria Borghese (Rome, 2013), Modern Art Oxford (2010), MoCA Los Angeles (2010), Contemporary Fine Arts (Berlin, 2009), the Modern Institute (Glasgow, 2007), and the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (Gent, 2003). His work was included in the Whitney Biennial in 2010. He has also collaborated with the New York Public Art Fund on two public sculptures: Statuesque (2010) and Masks (Pentagon) (2015).