Hans Arp | Chance – Form – Language (and a FRANZWESTigation)

posted by Saskia Pomeroy February 18, 2014

From 10th January – 1st March 2014 at Hauser & Wirth London, curated by Julian Heynen, this exhibition examines the relationship between form and chance in a selection of Hans Arp’s important but rarely seen sculptures from 1947 to 1965. In an unusual approach, Heynen positions Arp’s work alongside Passstücke (Adaptives) by Franz West, examining the shared creative principle of the two artists. A selection of Arp’s poetry will be installed on the walls and broadcast throughout the gallery.

Hans Arp is a familiar figure of classical Modernism and was a key contributor in the development of Dada and Surrealism in the early twentieth century, yet it was during the following decades that he would articulate the forms to which he would persistently return. Although his later practice is often overlooked, Arp continued producing sculpture and poetry in a continuation of the Dada tradition until his death in 1966, during which time he built up an incredible body of work.