Julian Simmons & Sarah Lucas
Simmons developed this portfolio from the group of Muses that Lucas included in her exhibition 鈥業 SCREAM DADDIO鈥� when she represented Britain in 2015 at the 56th International Art Exhibition 鈥� la Biennale di Venezia.
The sculptures, waist-down nude plaster casts of close female friends, as well as a couple of 鈥榮elf portraits鈥�. Each in a different pose: draped across a freezer, leaning over a table, sitting into a chair backwards, on a chair with one bum-cheek hanging over, straddling a composting-toilet bowl, legs spread perched on a table, standing one knee resting on a stool, they鈥檙e all up to something, especially smoking.
鈥業 suppose it鈥檚 an eggy sort of thing yellow, comes back to eggs. Which I鈥檝e always had in the mix somehow 鈥nd then thinking about the whiteness of the plaster sculptures 鈥� the muses, it suddenly occurred to me to think about them as floating islands, 卯les flottantes 鈥� the dessert. So custard became relevant and then I thought custard is good, because it鈥檚 basically eggs. The muses are the meringues and the yellow on the walls is the custard鈥� and actually the caramel is the varnished wooden furniture. I鈥檝e always had a thing about eggs and eggnog and custard and stuff and actually I鈥檝e had a thing about yellow. When I first ever had a room of my own, I must have been 14 or 15, I painted it white and put a yellow stripe 鈥榬ound it.鈥� - Sarah Lucas
Where there was space between the sculptures and the yellow painted walls in Venice, now from photographs Simmons took at the time, their graphic and mytho-religious quality (these are after all Muses set against 鈥榞old鈥�) has been accentuated with an inserted sharply-cut solid yellow background. Fitting between legs, along body contours, feet, bums, knees and furniture, this flat yet glowing colour-field meets the cold black & white shades of body-come-plaster. Sometimes as an elevating sea of custard, the background even holds a body afloat.
鈥楳y studio-office table, that Sarah鈥檚 had from the year dot, oak with a brown linoleum top, is the one Sarah cast Michele on. Often our household furniture gets incorporated into sculptures, they鈥檙e handy, obviously look good and have wear. When it鈥檚 a table that鈥檚 working well, it鈥檚 always a wrench 鈥� for me. I like a large table, Sarah鈥檚 not that keen as they get in the way of dance-floor space. Anyway this one stayed, along with an imprint of Michele鈥檚 bum 鈥� a large B where the lino is slightly cracked and inhabited with a peppery black mold. I see this perplexing organism every day. Like the Mortadella鈥nd blue cheese, it鈥檚 conspiratorially seductive.鈥� - Julian Simmons
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Simmons developed this portfolio from the group of Muses that Lucas included in her exhibition 鈥業 SCREAM DADDIO鈥� when she represented Britain in 2015 at the 56th International Art Exhibition 鈥� la Biennale di Venezia.
The sculptures, waist-down nude plaster casts of close female friends, as well as a couple of 鈥榮elf portraits鈥�. Each in a different pose: draped across a freezer, leaning over a table, sitting into a chair backwards, on a chair with one bum-cheek hanging over, straddling a composting-toilet bowl, legs spread perched on a table, standing one knee resting on a stool, they鈥檙e all up to something, especially smoking.
鈥業 suppose it鈥檚 an eggy sort of thing yellow, comes back to eggs. Which I鈥檝e always had in the mix somehow 鈥nd then thinking about the whiteness of the plaster sculptures 鈥� the muses, it suddenly occurred to me to think about them as floating islands, 卯les flottantes 鈥� the dessert. So custard became relevant and then I thought custard is good, because it鈥檚 basically eggs. The muses are the meringues and the yellow on the walls is the custard鈥� and actually the caramel is the varnished wooden furniture. I鈥檝e always had a thing about eggs and eggnog and custard and stuff and actually I鈥檝e had a thing about yellow. When I first ever had a room of my own, I must have been 14 or 15, I painted it white and put a yellow stripe 鈥榬ound it.鈥� - Sarah Lucas
Where there was space between the sculptures and the yellow painted walls in Venice, now from photographs Simmons took at the time, their graphic and mytho-religious quality (these are after all Muses set against 鈥榞old鈥�) has been accentuated with an inserted sharply-cut solid yellow background. Fitting between legs, along body contours, feet, bums, knees and furniture, this flat yet glowing colour-field meets the cold black & white shades of body-come-plaster. Sometimes as an elevating sea of custard, the background even holds a body afloat.
鈥楳y studio-office table, that Sarah鈥檚 had from the year dot, oak with a brown linoleum top, is the one Sarah cast Michele on. Often our household furniture gets incorporated into sculptures, they鈥檙e handy, obviously look good and have wear. When it鈥檚 a table that鈥檚 working well, it鈥檚 always a wrench 鈥� for me. I like a large table, Sarah鈥檚 not that keen as they get in the way of dance-floor space. Anyway this one stayed, along with an imprint of Michele鈥檚 bum 鈥� a large B where the lino is slightly cracked and inhabited with a peppery black mold. I see this perplexing organism every day. Like the Mortadella鈥nd blue cheese, it鈥檚 conspiratorially seductive.鈥� - Julian Simmons
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