Lygia Clark: Studio Origins

Alison Jacques presents Studio Origins, a solo exhibition dedicated to seminal Brazilian artist Lygia Clark (b.1920, Belo Horizonte – d.1988, Rio de Janeiro). This exhibition runs concurrently to Clark’s first UK museum solo exhibition The I and the You, at Whitechapel Gallery, London (2 October 2024 – 12 January 2025).

Clark is regarded as a radical innovator who pushed the boundaries of what is considered art, fundamentally redefining the relationship between artist and viewer. As a leading figure of the Neo-Concrete movement, initiated in Rio de Janeiro in 1959, Clark understood art as an organic phenomenon. She demanded a subjective, body-related and sensual experience which encouraged viewer interaction.

Studio Origins comprises early works, often smaller scale, which function as studies and proposals for larger paintings and sculptures; many never exhibited before. All of these works were kept in Clark’s studio throughout her life, and this exhibition thereby acts as a comprehensive encyclopaedia of her thoughts and ideas, forming the foundations for all that she went on to create over her 40-year career.