“Sculptures” at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac’s Salzburg Halle gallery space is a comprehensive solo exhibition by British sculptor Tony Cragg (b. 1949). Originally inspired by encounters with English Land art and performance, the primary theme of Cragg’s work over the last decade has been the micro and macro structures of nature.The new sculptures in bronze, wood, and steel continue Cragg’s experimentation with the material, showcasing his masterful understanding of form and materiality. Occupying an indefinable position between figuration and abstraction, the innovative organic creations, with their almost geological layers, map out both positive forms and negative spaces. The artist’s innovative interpretations of everyday materials turn the familiar into new and exciting entities, with evocative, rhythmic structures.The works in this exhibition build on the dynamics and elasticity of Cragg’s seminal “Early Forms” series, in which he combined and manipulated forms derived from a diverse range of vessel types. There is also evidence of the faces and heads that have continued to appear in Cragg’s work in recent years as something of a leitmotif.According to the Gallery, the distinguishing feature of Cragg’s work is his ongoing quest to find new ways to create distinctive entities that amaze with their unusual technoid and biomorphic references.The Greek philosopher, poet, and artist Demosthenes Davvetas describes Cragg’s sculptures as neither “closed objects” nor “impenetrable, designed integral realities.” “To the contrary, their segmentation, their fracturing, or lack of rectilinearity transforms them into open structures, into open motivations of a visual universality, of a visual cosmos,” he says.Tony Cragg's “Sculptures” runs through August 31 at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac Salzburg Halle. Click the slideshow to see images of the exhibition.
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