Paloma Varga Weisz: Wild Bunch
Sadie Coles HQ, London, UK
9 June – 24 August 2018
It was a genuine pleasure to encounter the work of Paloma Varga Weisz at Sadie Coles in London. I am always drawn to artists whose craftsmanship is so refined and deliberate, and who—through this precision—manage to transport viewers into their own private micro-universes.
Upon entering the gallery, the first work that commanded attention was a puppet carved from limewood, hanging from the ceiling. A life-sized naked body suspended helplessly in the air, its pose and expression radiating abandonment and profound vulnerability.
This striking central figure is accompanied by a constellation of smaller works, displayed in a more traditional manner on small wall-mounted plinths. The arrangement invites an intimate encounter: you notice how tactile and textured the surfaces are, how the grain of the wood becomes part of the storytelling. One can even sense the smell of freshly carved timber, as if the figures had only just emerged from the artist’s hands. The atmosphere encourages silence, focus, and inward reflection.
The experience recalls entering a medieval church, where sacred figures sit elevated on small altars for pilgrims to contemplate—only here, all the figures are pagan. A closer look reveals magical anthropomorphic beings, strange hybrid forms charged with personal and collective symbolism. In this quiet, contemplative setting, we seem to be venerating the sacredness that resides in all living forms.
Varga Weisz, a sculptor and draughtswoman, trained in traditional woodcarving, modelling, and casting in Bavaria before attending art school in Düsseldorf in the 1990s. She continues to live and work in Düsseldorf, drawing on these classical techniques to build her distinct visual language.
For this exhibition at Sadie Coles, we share only one photograph of The Art Berries merging with the artworks. The Art Blackberry amplifies the central figure’s sense of vulnerability and abandonment by joining it on the floor, as if quietly contemplating a carefully composed gathering of forms.
Interested in craftsmanship? You can also read my review and see the photographs I took a few months ago of Martin Puryear’s latest exhibition at Parasol Unit, London.
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