A new exhibition has opened in Fitzrovia, turning The Piper Gallery into a sculptural landscape reminiscent of an ancient city. The new show is artist PAUL DE MONCHAUX’s first commercial exhibit, and is a retrospective of his work from 1986 to 2013. Fixing Memory, the title of the show, stems from the artist’s desire to ‘leave a trace’ and to create something permanent that will withstand the flux of time.
De Monchaux is a much celebrated artist, who considers himself a ‘figurative sculptor’, one who responds to things rather than concepts or ideas. Born in Montreal and educated in both New York and London, de Monchaux served as The Head of Sculpture and Fine Art at Camberwell College of Art before retiring in 1986 to focus on his own work.
In the exhibition we are invited to travel through de Monchaux’s own ‘sculpture city’. Uxmal (bronze), for example, testifies to the cross-fertilisation of the sculptor’s work with its wide-ranging geographies and cultural references. Uxmal is the name of an ancient Mayan city; it recalls the Mesoamerican Pyramid of the Magician. Another piece which struck this writer’s interest was Stony Ground, a weathering steel piece, which the artist recounts was inadvertently inspired by a lyric in the 1974 Bob Marley & Wailers song “Talkin’ Blues”.
As the artist puts it, “those things that have power are the things that we remember.” This brilliant exhibition delivers as much in technique and theory, as it does in emotion and understanding; very stare-worthy.
Paul de Monchaux: Fixing Memory, Sculpture 1986-2013
Wednesday 13th February – Friday 15th March 2013
The Piper Gallery
18 Newman Street
London W1T 1PE
Tuesday-Saturday, 10am – 6pm
At other times by appointment
Admission Free
