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Lot Essay
Richard Deacon's Untitled engages the viewer on an anthropomorphic scale. Its three vertical loops of welded steel tubing defy traditional industrial iconography as they pinch and swell, presenting complex shapes and intersections at every angle.
Deacon famously refers to himself as a fabricator, rather than a sculptor. He does not carve or mold in accordance to a medium's traditional dictates. Rather he contorts the steel, urging it to behave against its nature, creating the unexpected sensation of animate form with a life of its own.
Upon closer inspection, the welding is revealed, exposing the fabrication. The active journey of the viewer's eye through and around Untitled--following the loops, twisting around the intersections, rounding curved ends, and peering through overlapping arcs--mimics the intertwined story of process and product behind the sculpture. The signs of its meticulous fabrication contrast with its organic appearance. Deacon has mastered catching movement in a moment of rest.
Deacon famously refers to himself as a fabricator, rather than a sculptor. He does not carve or mold in accordance to a medium's traditional dictates. Rather he contorts the steel, urging it to behave against its nature, creating the unexpected sensation of animate form with a life of its own.
Upon closer inspection, the welding is revealed, exposing the fabrication. The active journey of the viewer's eye through and around Untitled--following the loops, twisting around the intersections, rounding curved ends, and peering through overlapping arcs--mimics the intertwined story of process and product behind the sculpture. The signs of its meticulous fabrication contrast with its organic appearance. Deacon has mastered catching movement in a moment of rest.