Taking Shape: Finding Sculpture in the Decorative Arts

Perhaps the most eloquent statement of the aims of Taking Shape, an exhibition held in Leeds and Los Angeles in 2008, is to be found in the striking installation views reproduced in colour in this book of the show. A variety of ‘decorative art’ objects—candelabra, andirons, a carved and gilded mirror and a large imposing piece of foliate carving, its purpose unknown—are shown not in their traditional heritage interiors but on chunky bright red pedestals or hung against plain white walls. The effect is that the pieces become individualized objects, occupying space, casting mixed shadows against their modernist backdrop. In the text, Martina Droth, the curator, articulates the desire to address these objects separately from their place in a country house setting or a historicized museum interior. Rather, by de-historicizing them, we open up the possibility of viewing in terms of the shared visual language of the pieces, their objecthood or materiality. In short, the show gives these works the opportunity to be read as sculpted objects, exhibiting a level of creativity and artistic autonomy normally associated with more conventional gallery sculpture [1].