Transparent Things uses Chapter 1 of Vladimir Nabokov’s novel as a script. In this brief text objects exert uncanny agency, pulling us back anecdotally and materially into their past, and catalysing radical perceptual shifts. This 'script' lends itself to an exploration of contemporary sculpture.
Vladimir Nabokov, Colour Plate 55; Colour Plate 41; Colour Plate 44 by Vladimir Nabokov. © Vladimir Nabokov, used by permission of The Wylie Agency (UK) Limited. Photo: Mark Blower.
Artists have been invited to contribute works as co-readers of the text, with new works contributed by Michael Dean, Marie Lund, Virginia Overton, and Renee So, alongside works by Nairy Baghramian, Carlotta Bailly Borg, Becky Beasley, Gareth Cadwallader, Nina Canell, Theaster Gates, David Hammons, Lucy Skaer, Vladimir Nabokov and Kerry Tribe.
Virginia Overton, Untitled (cascade), 2020. Aluminium sign parts, ladders, steel drum, Uni-strut, water, pump, hose, sandbags and hardware. Commissioned by Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art, London. Courtesy of the artist and White Cube. Photo: Mark Blower.
Transparent Things
Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art, London
21 February – 3 May 2020 (Closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic)
Presented by Natasha Hoare
Edited by Martin Kennedy
Renee So, Figures & Vessels, 2019. Stoneware, terracotta. Courtesy of the artist and Kate MacGarry. Photo: Mark Blower.
Michael Dean, (Unfucking Titled) fucked dove / pigeon, 2020. Steel, cable ties, padlocks, concrete, customised scene tape, paperback books (Pollen, 2015). Courtesy of the artist and Herald St, London. Photo: Mark Blower.
Theaster Gates, Sound Cube, 2019. Azobe, Hammond B3 Organ and Leslie speaker. Courtesy of the artist and White Cube. Photo: Mark Blower.