“A finger had poked its way out of the drain-hole in the basin. A human finger. For a moment it froze, as if aware it had been discovered. Then it began to move again, feeling its wormlike way around the pink porcelain.”- extract from The Moving Finger, Stephen King, 1990.

Ancient & Modern presents Des Hughes’ first exhibition in the gallery since his solo presentation at Frieze art fair in 2010. With new groups of sculptures that include grinning charcoaled apples, traditional crossstitch and his distinctive cast resin sculptures mimicing their original sources, Hughes continues to have at its heart a wry humour often manifest in his use of words in watercolours and now thread, combined with a thorough immersion into the traditional materials of sculpture. A robust sense of imagery recalls classic British horror with a tender acknowledgement of 20th century modernist canon while reimagining a pre-romantic and more medieval moment, whose sombre world view was of the transience of life, the futility of pleasure and the certainty of death.

Des Hughes (b.1970) will have a solo exhibition at Hepworth Museum, Wakefield in 2014, and is shortlisted for the Contemporary Art Society award. He recently curated ‘Everything’s Inevitable‘ from the collections at Manchester Art Gallery in association with a major acquisition by the museum. He is currently exhibiting at Galerie Buchmann, Berlin and this summer showed in the Artist’s House and gardens of New Art Centre, Salisbury.Recent group shows include ‘BigMinis, Fetishes of Crisis’ (2010) and ‘Dystopias’ (2011), CAPC centre d’art contemporarin de Bordeaux; ‘Undone: making and un-making in Contemporary Sculpture’, Henry Moore Institute, Leeds (2010).

Ancient & Modern Gallery
201 Whitecross Street
London EC1Y 8QP United Kingdom
Ph. +44 (0)20 72534550
mail@ancientandmodern.org
www.ancientandmodern.org

Opening hours
Wednesday - Friday from 12pm to 6pm
Saturday from 1pm to 5pm and by appointment

Related images

  1. Des Hughes, Pterodactyl, 2013, polyester resin, steel, 84 x 56 x 16 cm
  2. Des Hughes, Armature, Installation view
  3. Des Hughes, Jumper, 2013, iron powder, polyester resin, wool, plaster, 160 x 80 x 40 cm
  4. Des Hughes, Armature, 2013, copper, wood, polyester resin, scrim, 66 x 56 x 12 cm
  5. For A While, 2013, mixed media (watercolour, baked apples, polyester resin, wood), 90 x 162 x 16 cm
  6. Des Hughes, A Lively Needle, 2013, iron powder, polyester resin, 80 x 20 x 57 cm