Fried egg breasts, a raw chicken representing female genitals, and sculpturally stuffed tights. Sense of Human from Sarah Lucas will bring you these delights and more at Kunsthalle Mannheim in an exhibition that will run through 20th October. This is Lucas’ first institutional display in Germany since 2005, and the pieces shown cover multiple decades of work, from her early designs to recent pieces, giving visitors the chance to see the evolution of her thought-provoking and eclectic art.
In her exhibition at the Kunsthalle, Sarah Lucas explores the human body and its social implications. The artist’s work blends seemingly indecorous humour with critique, using everyday objects to form questions and play with societal norms and gender stereotypes. Four decades of her artistic career are represented, from the iconic Au Naturel to her recent creations. Her approach to visuals means she makes use of objects like women’s tights and cigarettes, among many other found objects, to comment on human fragility, sexuality, and the constraints of social structures.
Born in London and educated at Goldsmiths College, Lucas has been on the art scene since the late 1980s, when she emerged into the public consciousness as part of the group Young British Artists. Her work has been showcased in many institutions worldwide, including the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale and the Tate Britain.
Lucas’ art has always provoked and amused, dispensing an off-centre perspective on themes like sexuality and gender. Her self-portraits, installations, and sculptures often attempt to challenge the conventional representations of the female body. In recent days, however, they may also indicate the changing of norms over the past few decades, as her work is no longer on the fringes but highly celebrated, reflecting shifts in both the art world and broader social conventions.
