Sculptures by Tal R on view at Palazzo Experimental in Venice

Over the summer months, three important bronze sculptures by Tal R will be on view in the canalside garden of Palazzo Experimental. Sculpture has long been an integral part of Tal R’s practice. For the artist its presence – material and metaphorical – has led to an extended consideration of things we might label as ‘objects’ exerting themselves in the shared physical realm of an exhibition space as ‘beings’. The figurative sculptures on view in the tranquil canalside garden of Palazzo Experimental are among the most complete expression of this career-long impulse. ‘I’ve made many different kinds of sculptures,’ Tal R says. ‘Looking back, they all tried to rise up and be figurative: a boy walking, somebody lying down, somebody standing up.’ Appearing almost as archetypes, these works dwell in both contemporary and historical realms; indeed, when viewed as a group they tackle different aspects of the great classical tradition. Shaped in clay, cast in plaster and moulded in bronze, they draw the viewer into their tactile surfaces, inviting us to consider mysteries of origin and meaning.

New paintings by the artist will be presented at Victoria Miro Venice from 1 July 2023.