Frieze week highlights: a Japanese printmaking dynasty is feted in Dulwich
Arjun Sajip, Apollo
October 2024
In a recent column or Apollo, Hettie Judah declared herself ‘every conservator’s nightmare – that person who wants to touch the art’. But there are those artists who have warmly welcomed audience participation. Lygia Clark is an early example: born in Belo Horizonte in 1920, she was a key figure among Brazil’s neo-concrete artists, who chafed against the geometric strictures propounded through the constructivist movement then popular in Europe and gaining ground in Latin America. Many of Clark’s notions of art have more currency now than ever – art as therapy; art as something physically accessible. A sweeping survey of her work at Whitechapel Gallery captures the nature of her accomplishments: highlights include Bichos, geometric metal sculptures with hinges that allow viewers to manipulate the pieces into different positions, and a series of live performances that honour Clark’s ideas of creating art through group participation (until 12 January 2025). The show coincides with an exhibition of the artist’s early work at Alison Jacques, comprising studies, maquettes, paintings and collages from a time when new ideas were occurring to Clark more quickly than she could execute them (until 26 October).