Thomas Houseago at Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris
Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris is hosting the first retrospective in France of Thomas Houseago (b. 1972, Leeds). The intriguing show documents his most important works from the 1990s to today.
When Houseago was sixteen years old, he experienced two formative events: the exhibition “Late Picasso” at the Tate Gallery in London, where he discovered the paintings produced by the Spanish artist in the later period of his life, and images of the iconic performance by Joseph Beuys, How to Explain Paintings to a Dead Hare, from 1965. His schooling took place at the Jacob Kramer College in Leeds, then at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London. Since then, his time has been entirely devoted to his art practice. Consistent with his modus operandi, he borrows the title of his exhibition “Almost Human” from the lyrics of a song, this time the famous Suzanne of Leonard Cohen. Throughout his career, the work takes shape by channeling all that belongs to the human form. From the anthropomorphic sculptures of his first years, through sculpted or painted silhouette monsters, to the site-specific installation Cast Studio (stage – chairs – bed – mound – cave – bath – grave) which acts as a transcript and trail of the artist’s movements, Houseago presents the anthropomorphic shape alive in space.
“Thomas Houseago: Almost Human.” Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris. Through July 14.