Thomas Houseago

The work of British-born artist Thomas Houseago is studio-based, and the core of his sculptures and drawings often reveal their structure to deepen their emotional vulnerability. Houseago lived in the Netherlands and Belgium before moving to Los Angeles in 2003 and was heavily influenced by Hellenistic statuary, science fiction, and early Modernist sculpture. His oversized pieces are often figurative, be it a full human body or an owl, a chair or a spoon. Houseago has used bronze, aluminum, wood, plaster, and charcoal to sculpt awkward proportions and contorted forms that are overwhelmingly physical with underlying transparency—iron skeletons allow his viewers to witness the “nuanced legibility of the human form.” His work connects looking and observing, allowing for the unification of sight, touch and memory.

Houseago has shown at institutions including Storm King Art Center, Moutainville, New York, The High Line, New York, Rennie Collection, Vancouver, Ballroom Marfa, Texas, S.M.A.K, Ghent, Stedelijk Museum Bureau, Amsterdam, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Museum of Contemporary Arts, Chicago, CAB Art Center, Brussels, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, and The Saatchi Gallery, London, among many others. He participated in the 2010 Whitney Biennial.