Posted on
2013-03-04
For each of the three discrete sections of Liberty Grip, Hume used as a template the arm of a mannequin, enlarging this mass-produced, utilitarian object to a colossal scale.Hume then positioned the three arms into an evocative group of forms that suggests both a bundle of limbs or a contorted hand. Bronze on this scale usually commemorates the feat of a war hero or the triumphs of a nation, but with Liberty Grip Hume toys with our conventional uses of monumental sculpture, treating it with mischievous sense of scale, even painting the tips of the abruptly cut-off limbs a playful, intimate colour. Liberty Grip brings to mind the detached and colossal hand of the Roman Emperor Constantine, yet where that sculpture, now in fragments, celebrated the feats of a leader, Hume swaps bravado for all the sensuality and wit that characterise his paintings.
Exhibition runs through to April 21st, 2013
White Cube
144 – 152 Bermondsey Street
London
SE1 3TQ
whitecube.com