Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti, modern art maestro Pablo Picasso and conceptual pioneer Bruce Nauman walk into a gallery. It’s the setup to a joke I haven’t got a punchline for, and the basis for this exhibition of sculptures by the three of them. They’re all big dogs of art history, but do they have anything in common? Gagosian sure thinks so, but you may not leave this show all that convinced.
A long gaunt Giacometti bust faces you as you enter, a loping man strides feebly behind, a lone leg – emaciated and weak – balances nearby. Giacometti’s work is heavy with the legacy of war, worryingly frail, brutally scarred.
Picasso isn’t so burdened. His work here is a bunch of games, experiments with human form, a body shaped like a crucifix, a pregnant woman made of orbs, tiny figures that toy with ideas stolen from the ancient world and African dolls.
Nauman’s work is weirder and darker than both. Casts of hands are bound with rope, animals are beheaded and reassembled, fists smash into each other.
The gallery says that all three artists use the body as base material, but so does the vast majority of figurative sculpture. It’s hard to understand what unites these three artists, why they’re being shown together, other than them all being famous and influential; it could be any three of countless sculptors.
Giacometti, as the only artist here fully dedicated to the craft of sculpture, comes across the best. His works are so pained, so tense, so absolutely full of the scars of living. He knew, deeply, innately, how to manipulate material to convey a sense of humanity, of emotion, of life. You might not love the aesthetic (I don’t), but it’s undeniably good sculpture.
Picasso in comparison looks like someone experimenting, twisting, playing with sculpture as an outlet. He is nowhere near as assured, as powerful, as masterful as the Swiss sculptor.
And then Nauman struggles even more. Not because his work isn’t good, but because it’s primary power is in its ideas, and they’re not given room to be expressed.
That’s the problem with shows like this (and we’ve had quite a few of them recently), they turn art into sport, a competition. Someone always comes out on top when you’re comparing artists, and someone always loses.
If it had been a bigger group show with a wider focus, it might have worked. But there’s still plenty of brilliant, beautiful sculpture here. The best thing is that it’s an opportunity to spend some quality time with three incredible, innovative, important artists. Even if you don’t know why everyone’s together, it’s still good to hang out.
