MOCA London presents new bronze sculptures by Alex Wood that were inspired by his residency at Sala 1 in Rome. Wood was presented the residency as a prize for his bronze sculptures presented to the Royal Society of British Artists in 2021.
Wood is that particular sort of Englishman with that very British sort of sly humour. His bronzes are not only quirky, but they are often actually very funny. It is hard to make a work of sculpture intelligent and funny for it to tell a visual joke that is not a pratfall. When viewers see his Palm Trees (Pina Colada Palm, 2020, The Palm After the Storm, 2020 – recently exhibited at Paul Smith’s Bond Street store) swaying, or a juicy bronze burger (Whopper, 2022), they are reminded of a sort of Britishness that comes from having grown up in Kent. The sculptures recall holidays in Mallorca, Tenerife, LA, or nights in Ibiza yet they are extremely well-made bronzes that have been wonderfully patinated or cold painted in bright colours. They take a lot of work to make them look so calmly timeless.
Like a good joke, they have to be honed and the end results are from a lot of hard work that the viewer never sees and if they do, the joke is bust. It has to appear effortless, seamless and as if it rolled off the tongue or out of his fingers. Even his works that allude to mythical creatures (Scylla and Charybdis, 2020, Hydra, 2022) or spaceships and aeroplanes leave the viewer bemused. They certainly do not look like your child could make them, but neither are they hyperrealistic, if I say they are Wooden, it is a poor joke on his name, but what I mean is that they all look like only Alex Wood could have made them.
| Duration | 27 November 2022 - 17 December 2022 |
| Times | Thursday and Friday: 2pm - 6pm Saturday: 12pm - 4pm or by appointment |
| Cost | Free |
| Venue | MOCA London |
| Address | 113 Bellenden Road, London, SE15 4QY |
| Contact | / info@mocalondon.co.uk / www.mocalondon.co.uk |