This series asks Pangolin London artists to share how they are coping with life and isolation under COVID-19 lockdown.
How has lockdown affected your routine and practise?
The lockdown has affected me very strongly. For the past 2 years I have been preparing for a 60 year retrospective at Grounds for Sculpture, on of the major venues for exhibiting sculpture in the US. At my California studio in January we loaded, cradled and wrapped 6 of the largest highway trucks with 63 sculptures , many of the monumental in size, to travel across the country. The works arrived and the museum installed the exhibition in 3 museum buildings and extensive outdoor grounds…just in time for it to be closed indefinitely. The exhibition looks lovely but it is unclear if and when it will ever be open (photos below)
What have you been working on today?
I am working a new series of works, ‘The Pandemic Series”. They are a defiant response to the virus.
What are you missing the most in this time of isolation?
A feeling that there will finally be a reasonably ok end to this
Are you struggling to get hold of materials and does this mean you are coming up with original ideas to compensate?
I’m ok for the moment, but lack of materials will soon start to be a problem.
What are you doing to remain positive?
Working on making new sculpture.
What advice would you give to your fellow creative practitioners?
Keep working.
Do you think art and the art world will look different when we re-emerge from isolation?
Yes and No. I have been a sculptor for 60 years now and I have lived and worked though good and bad economic times. I think it is inevitable that the virus is going to have serious economic impact. I think that will weed out some artists who have come to expect high prices and predictable sales and some of the high flying galleries will not make it. But there have always been artists who cannot be other than artists and there have always been collectors who loved art. It will just be more difficult. Our job as artists is to keep working by whatever means it takes.
Can you recommend a good art related book, podcast or film/series for everyone in lockdown?
The BBC series “Planet Earth”.
Which artist (dead or alive) would you most like to be in isolation with and why?
First choice would be Eduardo Chillida because I consider him to the be finest sculptor of the mid 20th century and who as a man, was as profound as his work.
But also, my dear friend and recently deceased German sculptor, Ingo Rhonkholz, because I know we would push each other and challenge each other to respond to the virus by making the best sculpture we could.
BRUCE BEASLEY
To see more works by Bruce Beasley click here
For enquiries please email gallery@pangolinlondon.com.
