MICHAEL LANDY
LOOK
A new exhibition from Michael Landy CBE RA – his first in Sussex – drawing on his personal life experience
Michael Landy, for whom drawing has always been a crucial part of his work, is widely acknowledged as one of the most talented draughtsmen of his generation. Known more for his large installations and participatory works, in this exhibition he reveals a quieter and more intimate consideration of the world around him.
In LOOK, Landy presents a group of intensely personal drawings from 2004-2005 relating to his own experience of testicular cancer and his father’s tunnelling accident. Through his intense observation and focus, Landy has created a body of work that represents the bond between father and son, reflecting on memory, vulnerability and the past.
These works will be accompanied by a new self-portrait made specifically for Hastings Contemporary.
The exhibition will also include Landy’s second series of Nourishment etchings (2024) that elevate the humble weed to a majestic scale with precision and elegance.
This exhibition considers Landy’s continued engagement with marginalisation, our ideas of value, and his interest in the overlooked or disregarded. Finding beauty in the ordinary, giving new meaning and dignity to that which is passed over by most, he elevates the everyday while bringing our attention to simple complexity.
Image: Michael Landy, Sweet Alison, 2024, etching on paper, 64 x 58.5 cm. © Michael Landy. Courtesy the artist and Thomas Dane Gallery. Photo: Eva Herzog
