Thomas Houseago:
As I Went Out One Morning
May 4–November 11, 2013
Storm King Art Center
Old Pleasant Hill Road
Mountainville NY 10953
The first monographic museum exhibition in the U.S. of works by internationally acclaimed Los Angeles-based sculptor Thomas Houseago will be presented from May 4 through November 11 at New York’s Storm King Art Center, one of the world’s foremost sculpture parks. Thomas Houseago: As I Went Out One Morning is a group of approximately 25 works featuring a number of the monumentally scaled, free-standing figural sculptures for which Houseago is best known as well as portrait heads; architectural and animal sculptures; abstractions; floral reliefs; and a selection of the artist’s rarely exhibited sculpted furniture and drawings on canvas. The exhibition will be installed outside around the museum building and in its galleries.
Dating from 2007 to the present, the works on view document Houseago’s emergence as a mature artist and explore the principal themes, imagery, and technical practices that inform his art. Carried out in a variety of media, Houseago’s sculptures are notable for the wide and ever-expanding range of influences they incorporate—from classical statuary to Cubism to popular culture. Central to much of his work is the transformative power of scale, expressed in his outsized human figures and replicas of everyday objects. While many of his forms are instantly recognizable, others challenge accepted notions about the boundaries between representation and abstraction. Still others explore the physical and psychological nature of the sculptural process itself. Houseago’s increasing fascination with outdoor installation and sculpture that interacts with the environment makes Storm King an ideal venue for this important mid-career retrospective.
Storm King will be the only venue for this exhibition, which is organized by Storm King Director and Curator David R. Collens and Associate Curator Nora Lawrence. David Collens states, “We are extremely pleased to give our visitors this opportunity to view his sculptures in a setting that is so appropriate to the aims and impact of his art.” Nora Lawrence adds, “We are thrilled that he was inspired to create new work in response to the intimate and enveloping experience of nature at Storm King.”
Thomas Houseago: As I Went Out One Morning is made possible by generous lead support from Hauser & Wirth, the Hazen Polsky Foundation, and the Ohnell Charitable Lead Trust. Additional support is provided by Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Nicholas. Education-related programming is made possible by the Sidney E. Frank Foundation.
Thomas Houseago
Thomas Houseago was born in Leeds, England, in 1972, and studied art at London’s Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design and at De Ateliers in Amsterdam. In 2003, he moved to Los Angeles, where the expansive spaces encouraged the artist’s exploration of outdoor installations. Considered one of the most exciting and original sculptors of his generation, Houseago enjoys an international reputation and has been featured in solo and group exhibitions in Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Edinburgh, London, Los Angeles, Milan, Paris, New York, and Venice.
Storm King Art Center
Located in the Hudson Valley about an hour north of the George Washington Bridge, Storm King is one of the world’s leading sculpture parks, encompassing over 500 acres of rolling hills, verdant fields, and woodlands. These provide space for a collection of more than 100 large-scale sculptures by some of the most acclaimed artists of our time. For the 2013 season, a site-specific installation by David Brooks, A Proverbial Machine in the Garden, will be on view.
Storm King is located on Old Pleasant Hill Road, in Mountainville, New York. Public transportation from New York City to Storm King is provided twice daily by Coach USA, leaving from the Port Authority Bus Terminal, and NJ Transit/Metro-North Railroad, leaving from Pennsylvania Station.
For hours and admission and additional information, the public is encouraged to visit www.stormking.org, or call 845 534 3115.
For GPS use:
1 Museum Road
New Windsor NY 12553
Media contact: Bow Bridge Communications: info [at] bow-bridge.com / T 347 460 5566
