Conrad Shawcross
'Winnowing Oar' 2003
Oak, spruce, ash / 226 x 28 x 13 cm
Imbued with an appearance of scientific rationality, Conrad Shawcross's sculptures explore subjects that lie on the borders of geometry and philosophy, physics and metaphysics. Attracted by failed quests for knowledge in the past, he often appropriates redundant theories and methodologies to create ambitious structural and mechanical montages, using a wide variety of materials and media, and working on an epic scale. Different technologies - nautical and audio-visual - and different natural forces inspire his forms, but his mysterious machines and structures remain enigmatic, filled with paradox and wonder. Some have an absurdist melancholy feel, while others tend to the sublime.
More recently, with another group of works, Conrad Shawcross has begun to experiment with ideal geometries and topologies; these constructions are conceived as systems, sometimes modular, sometimes mechanical, which could be theoretically extended infinitely into space. In these and other sculptures, Shawcross pays tribute to some of the great pioneers and analysts, and considers a specific moment or figure from the past. Paradigm (Ode to the Difference Engine) (2006) references the life of Charles Babbage, Space Trumpet (2007) is inspired by the history of early acoustic mapping, while Slow Arc Inside a Cube (2008) takes its inspiration from the scientist Dorothy Hodgkin's discovery of the structure of pig insulin.
Born in 1977 in London, where he currently resides and works, Shawcross is currently Artist in Residence at the Science Museum, London.
Text provided by Victoria Miro Gallery, London.
Conrad Shawcross
'Small Arc Inside A Cube' 2008
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