Richard Deacon: SOME TIME

Middelheim Museum proudly presents SOME TIME, an exhibition of works by Richard Deacon. SOME TIME is focused around a major new commission, the resurrection of Deacon’s Never Mind, a key work from the collection acquired by the museum in 1993, which has been refabricated in stainless steel by Deacon for this landmark exhibition.

Deacon’s engagement with a diverse range of materials has seen him move between laminated wood, stainless steel, corrugated iron, polycarbonate, marble, clay, vinyl, foam and leather. This fascination with the possibilities of the most diverse materials propels him from one work to the next, bending the laws of what is incompatible to create complex, flowing shapes that charge and retreat, climb and descend. SOME TIME features 31 works by the master of contemporary sculpture, including monumental and small-scale pieces, which will be installed in the renowned sculpture park and museum.

The title of the exhibition refers to both the provisional nature of time and, more literally, to a short period of time. It explores several key themes which Deacon has revisited throughout his oeuvre over a period of more than 40 years, including the artistic strategies of refabrication and variation.

The sculpture Never Mind was first acquired by Middelheim Museum in 1993, in an historic moment for the museum which took a resolute step towards contemporary art at this time. Deacon has worked in collaboration and consultation with the museum, 24 years later to refabricate the work and restore it in a new material.

Deacon calls himself a fabricator and tests the resilience of materials, of language and the significance of objects, to the extreme. By applying, or re-writing, a logical and consistent set of rules on the same basis or starting situation, the artist continues to push the boundaries, adding new possibilities in terms of meaning. The term variation—which can apply to mathematics, music and biology—can be applied to Never Mind in that it represents a retake, a new perspective and a return to a past form in order to innovate.

“Richard Deacon belongs to a generation of artists who continue to keep the relevance and importance of sculpture at the forefront, especially in a context where the connection between materiality and concept becomes ever more complex,” said Sara Weyns, Director Middelheim Museum.
 

For further press information please contact
Alice Haguenauer / Florence Ritter at Pelham Communications
alice [​at​] pelhamcommunications.com / florence [​at​] pelhamcommunications.com / T +44 (0) 20 8969 3959

About Middelheim Museum
The Middelheim Museum is a unique open-air institution formed to encourage exceptional experiences through the interplay between art and nature, showcasing leading examples of modern and contemporary art within a parkland setting. The growing permanent collection provides an overview of more than a century of visual arts, with works by artists including Auguste Rodin, Henry Moore, Rik Wouters, Juan Muňoz, Panamarenko, Chris Burden, Dan Graham, Ai Weiwei and Roman Signer.

Each year, the Middelheim Museum extends an invitation to renowned and promising artists with the opportunity to engage with the context of the park and the Museum’s existing collection. Freed from the “white cube” format of a typical gallery space, the artists are inspired to create new work custom-made for the Middelheim Museum and its unique surrounds. Past collaborations of this kind include with Berlinde De Bruyckere, Wim Delvoye, Yoshitomo Nara, Paul McCarthy, Chris Burden, John Körmeling, Erwin Wurm among others.

With an annual average of 500,000 visitors and free entry, the Middelheim Museum is a gateway to modern and contemporary art for visitors of all ages, and offers a haven of culture and recreation to nature lovers and art experts.