Installation view, ‘GRUPPENAUSSTELLUNG’, Hauser & Wirth Somerset, 2023 © Camille Henrot © Archiv Franz West / Estate Franz West. Courtesy the Franz West Foundation and Ursula Hauser Collection, Switzerland. Photo: Ken Adlard
GRUPPENAUSSTELLUNG Outdoor Sculpture Unveiled in Somerset
Featuring works by Camille Henrot, Jenny Holzer, Franz West and David Zink Yi
As part of Somerset’s ‘GRUPPENAUSSTELLUNG’ exhibition, a new open-air sculpture presentation is interspersed throughout the site, featuring major works by Hauser & Wirth artists. The multidisciplinary exhibition is inspired by the notion of a traditional Kunsthalle, conceived as a place to showcase groundbreaking art and explore contemporary issues with a broad audience. The entire site takeover provides a platform for discovery and interaction.
As you enter Durslade Farm, visitors are greeted by Franz West’s colorful and bold work ‘Autostat’ (1996) and ‘Gartenpouf (Garden Pouf)’ (2006), both of which are displayed on the plinth in front of the gallery’s entrance. West’s ‘Etude de couleur’ (1991/1997), in front of the farmhouse, highlights the artist’s playful commentary on the world and people around him, disrupting all preconceptions of what art viewing should be. His third work, ‘Lemurenköpfe (Lemur heads)’, (1992) is on display in the cloister courtyard. Also on view in the farmyard area, David Zink Yi’s stainless steel replicas of ‘Washingtonia robusta’ palms continue to experiment with perspective and idealised artificiality, nature and architecture.
Installation view, ‘GRUPPENAUSSTELLUNG’, Hauser & Wirth Somerset, 2023 © David Zink Yi © Archiv Franz West / Estate Franz West. Courtesy the Franz West Foundation and Ursula Hauser Collection, Switzerland. Photo: Ken Adlard
David Zink Yi, Neusilber (New Silver), (2018) © David Zink Yi, ‘GRUPPENAUSSTELLUNG’, Hauser & Wirth Somerset, 2023. Photo: Ken Adlard
Directly behind West’s ‘Etude de couleur’ (1991/1997) is Camille Henrot’s ‘Family of Men’ (2022). The artist’s bronze sculpture emphasize the delicate equilibrium between thing and object, and the mutual generation of bodies, words and shapes. It offers an image of the crushing power of authority and ancestry, with the figures squashing each other in their quest for elevation and growth. Henrot’s ‘Gargoyles’ (2022) are positioned amongst the flora and fauna of Oudolf Field. Henrot’s hybrid figures—neither human, animal nor plant—exist in a state of perpetual becoming.
Camille Henrot, Family of Men, (2022), ‘GRUPPENAUSSTELLUNG’, Hauser & Wirth Somerset, 2023 © Camille Henrot. Photo: Ken Adlard
Camille Henrot, Gargoyles, (2022), ‘GRUPPENAUSSTELLUNG’, Hauser & Wirth Somerset, 2023 © Camille Henrot. Photo: Ken Adlard
About ‘GRUPPENAUSSTELLUNG’
‘GRUPPENAUSSTELLUNG’ is a celebration of Hauser & Wirth’s Swiss heritage through a playful presentation of over 20 artists, including Phyllida Barlow, Martin Creed, Nicole Eisenman, Isa Genzken, Rodney Graham, Richard Hamilton, Mary Heilmann, Camille Henrot, Jenny Holzer, Richard Jackson, Rashid Johnson, Allison Katz, Paul McCarthy, Jason Rhoades, Pipilotti Rist, Dieter Roth, Björn Roth, Mika Rottenberg, Anri Sala, Cindy Sherman, Roman Signer, Lorna Simpson, Alina Szapocznikow, Franz West and David Zink Yi.
The multidisciplinary exhibition is inspired by the notion of a traditional Kunsthalle, conceived as a place to showcase groundbreaking art and explore contemporary issues with a broad audience. The entire site takeover provides a platform for discovery and interaction, extending to all five galleries, outdoor sculpture and a collaborative events program with the Roth Bar & Grill. The exhibition will evolve in three parts over the course of seven months, featuring immersive installations, solo presentations and iconic video works. Alongside the exhibition, the Education Lab takes its starting point from Mika Rottenberg’s commitment to environmentally sustainable creative practices, developed by the gallery’s green teams globally.
‘GRUPPENAUSSTELLUNG’ is on view from until Monday 1 January 2024.
Installation view, ‘GRUPPENAUSSTELLUNG,’ Hauser & Wirth Somerset, 2023 © Camille Henrot and Archiv Franz West / Estate Franz West. Courtesy the Franz West Foundation and Ursula Hauser Collection, Switzerland. Photo: Ken Adlard
