Ikon presents rarely seen works by acclaimed artist Angela de la Cruz alongside a new commission developed in collaboration with Birmingham Royal Ballet. Guest curated by Carolina Grau, the exhibition brings together key sculptures, installations and paintings that explore de la Cruz’s deep concern with the human body, vulnerability and the physical realities of everyday survival.
For more than three decades, de la Cruz has pushed the boundaries of painting and sculpture. Her works interrogate what happens when familiar structures – physical, emotional, architectural – collapse or resist pressure. Entering the exhibition, viewers encounter Still Life with Table (2000) – a black canvas roughly stretched over collapsed domestic objects – and Limp (Brown) (2000), a stretched painting held upright by another canvas that has been stitched into it. In Bloated III (Blue) (2012) a shimmering metal box – hammered from the inside – evokes the liminal state between one form and another. Capturing the physical dimensions of de la Cruz’s body, these sculptural paintings invite reflection on human adaption and resilience.
The exhibition is generously supported by Henry Moore Foundation The Embassy of Spain Office for Cultural & Scientific Affairs, Ikon Benefactor Jonathan Wearing and Galerie Thomas Schulte.
