sarah lucas constructs anatomical sculptures for 'HONEY PIE' at SADIE COLES HQ

digital exhibition tour: SADIE COLES HQ presents HONEY PIE, an exhibition by sarah lucas featuring a new group of sculptures that extend her long-term bunny series into dynamic new forms. the exhibition consists of several sculptures made from stuffed tights and found objects, alongside an equal number of works in bronze and concrete. first conceived in 1997, lucas’s bunny sculptures evoke female nudes reclining on chairs in states of abandon and vulnerability.

employing the same everyday materials, the soft sculptures in HONEY PIE develop this formula through anatomical contortions, flamboyant footwear and chairs of eclectic shape and size. bright colors applied to the figures’ limbs give them the appearance of a surrealist chorus line, at once exotic and comedic. lucas has elevated the works on a series of plinths that reinforce their individualism, resetting the balance of power between sculpture and viewer.

installation view, sarah lucas, HONEY PIE, SADIE COLES HQ
all images © sarah lucas, courtesy SADIE COLES HQ, london / photo by robert glowacki

lucas’s soft sculptures at SADIE COLES HQ are mirrored in five bronze and concrete works. employing the same figure-chair composition, these stand in striking contrast to the fleshiness and bold colour of the soft figures – as if animate bodies have transmuted into statues or icons. cast from soft prototypes, the hard sculptures consist of polished bronze anatomies – extruded, tubular forms with high-gloss surfaces – each posed on top of a chair rendered in concrete and metal. ‘they’ve got more of a ghostly quality – like something left over from another age,’ lucas has stated. ‘it’s a mixture of the hard and the soft, and the colourful and the austere.’

installation view, sarah lucas, HONEY PIE, SADIE COLES HQ

lucas has arranged the sculptures within a cruciform structure of concrete and MDF that splits the gallery into quadrants. in their style of presentation as much as their rhyming forms, the works look back to earlier shows such as bunny gets snookered at SADIE COLES HQ in 1997 (where the bunnies were scattered around a snooker table) or NUDS in 2009, where she first began to use plinths in the form of breeze block stacks. in the new show, plinths in various shades of yellow compound the painterly aspect of the sculptures. in contrast to the literal debasement of the original bunnies (most of which were placed on the floor), the plinths raise the works to eye level or higher, amplifying the swagger and exuberance of lucas’s cast of characters.

installation view, sarah lucas, HONEY PIE, SADIE COLES HQ

these attributes are reflected in the works’ titles. DORA LALALA resembles a contortionist winding her legs into a bow; SUGAR consists of a bouquet of breasts on nimble pink legs. the chairs and shoes are themselves multifarious in design and import – from the scrolling campery of an ironwork seat to the hyperbolic femininity of platform boots. at the same time, lucas’s soft and hard muses continue to channel themes that have defined her work from the beginning – whether the anthropomorphic charge of found objects, the objectification of the female nude, or the elusive line between comedy and abjection.

installation view, sarah lucas, HONEY PIE, SADIE COLES HQ

installation view, sarah lucas, HONEY PIE, SADIE COLES HQ

installation view, sarah lucas, HONEY PIE, SADIE COLES HQ

installation view, sarah lucas, HONEY PIE, SADIE COLES HQ

installation view, sarah lucas, HONEY PIE, SADIE COLES HQ

installation view, sarah lucas, HONEY PIE, SADIE COLES HQ

sarah lucas, PEEPING THOMASINA, 2020
tights, wire, kapok, shoes, acrylic paint, vinyl and metal chair
sculpture: 81 x 46 x 66 cm / 31 7⁄8 x 18 1⁄8 x 26 in | plinth: 68.1 x 43 x 65.2 cm / 26 3⁄4 x 16 7⁄8 x 25 5⁄8 in

sarah lucas, COOL CHICK BABY, 2020
tights, wire, kapok, shoes, acrylic paint, vinyl and metal chair
sculpture: 96.5 x 77.5 x 90 cm / 38 x 30 1⁄2 x 35 3⁄8 in | plinth: 20.3 x 121.9 x 121.9 cm / 8 x 48 x 48 in

sarah lucas, OOPS!, 2019
concrete, bronze, steel, acrylic paint
86 x 75 x 84 cm / 33 7⁄8 x 29 1⁄2 x 33 1⁄8 in

sarah lucas, CROSS DORIS, 2019
concrete, bronze, steel, iron, acrylic paint
71.5 x 73 x 68 cm / 28 1⁄8 x 28 3⁄4 x 26 3⁄4 in

sarah lucas, DICK ‘EAD, 2018
bronze, concrete, cast iron and acrylic paint
overall: 172 x 78.5 x 116.5 cm / 67 3⁄4 x 30 7⁄8 x 45 7⁄8 in

exhibition info: 

HONEY PIE
dates: march 16 – may 7, 2020
location: 62 kingly street W1

edited by nina azzarello

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