At the Secession, Daniel Dewar & Grégory Gicquel present altogether sixteen works, extending the series of oakwood sculptures they began in 2017.
They are hybrids in several aspects: between sculpture and furniture, between autonomous work of art and object of utility, between inanimate object and animate creature—human, animal, and plant.
The massive oakwood objects are studded with intricately carved and meticulously executed grotesque figurative elements such as arms, noses, gourds, courgettes, and oxen and pig heads that seem to grow out of the chests, cabinets, and dressers.
These works, some of which make their debut in the show, are complemented by a 2015 series of handmade ceramic sculptures that emulate off-the-shelf sanitary ware and introduce the discourse of specific materials as well as the varied artistic play with the commonplace and banal to the exhibition.
The duo’s engagement with the codes, traditions, and conventions of art as well as their mischievous humor speak even from their most inconspicuous pieces.
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