William Tucker: Present and Past
September 13 – October 13, 2012
Exhibit | Checklist | Catalogue Essay
A unique exhibition of five sculptures by WILLIAM TUCKER will open at the McKEE GALLERY, 745 Fifth Avenue, New York, on September 13 – October 13, 2012.
The central work is of a majestic horse’s head, Day, which Tucker has been working on for the past two years. Nine feet high and modeled in plaster in the characteristic technique of Tucker’s late work, the sculpture relates to his long interest in figurative fragments in Greek sculpture which harks back to a classical education and his first encounter with the Elgin marbles in The British Museum. The title Day obliquely refers to the mythical horses which pulled the chariot of the Greek sun god Helios and his Hindu counterpart, Surya, to the dawn of a new day.
Surrounding the immense mass of Day will be four linear abstract sculptures from the Seventies, which show Tucker’s intuitive need to work within a triangular geometric construction. This tendency is a logical feature of both his present and early work. Tucker’s Sixties’ and Seventies’ sculptures established his importance in London, where a younger “New Generation” successfully challenged the long established supremacy of Henry Moore and changed the course of British sculpture.
Tucker emigrated to New York in 1978, where his work rapidly evolved in scale and technique, culminating in the large plaster/bronze works of the past thirty years. Retrospective exhibitions of Tucker’s work have been organized by the Storm King Art Center in 1988, and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, England in 2001. He is well represented in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Tate, London.
There will be an exhibition of six sculptures from the Seventies at The Margulies Collection at the Warehouse in Miami during the Basel Miami Art Fair in November/December 2012.
A catalogue is available with essay by Paul Hayes Tucker.
Day 2012 plaster for bronze, 100 x 109 x 61 inches 254 x 277 x 155 cm |
The Contract 1978 pine, 101 x 93 1/2 x 29 inches 256.5 x 237.5 x 73.5 cm |
For images and more information please contact Karyn Behnke: karyn@mckeegallery.com