Gagliardi e Domke Contemporary

Hyperrealistic sculptures” shows – based on 25 international artists – a unique selection of figurative sculptures. It is the first exhibition to give a deep insight into the development of hyper-realistic sculpture over the past 50 years and to address the different tendencies in the way the human body is represented.

Since the 1960s and 1970s, various sculptors have been dealing with this form of realism, which is modeled on the lifelike appearance of the human body. By using traditional techniques such as modeling, casting and subsequent painting, they created hyper-realistic, human images and thereby approached a contemporary form of figurative realism in different ways.

The exhibition presents the multifaceted approach to the representation of figural realism in five central groups and shows how the view of human physicality is subject to continuous change.

The selection of works of art includes all important representatives of the hyper-realistic movement, starting with the early American pioneers such as George Segal, Duane Hanson and John DeAndrea. Numerous American and European artists including a.o. Peter Land (Denmark), Maurizio Cattelan (Italy), Marc Sijan (USA) as well as Australian artists – Ron Mueck, Sam Jinks and Patricia Piccinini – and Canadian artists – Evan Penny – continued the work of these pioneers and developed individual forms of hyper-realistic visual language.

This extensive selection of works of art from all continents emphasizes the multinational character of the hyper-realistic movement, which continues to develop worldwide.

On the occasion of this comprehensive retrospective on the development of hyper-realistic sculptures, works of art from around the world were brought together to provide a comprehensive overview. We are grateful to all lenders and artists who made this sculpture exhibition possible.

This exhibition is a cooperation with the Institute for Cultural Exchange, Tübingen