Eva Rothschild Peak Times

The outdoor work Hazard (2018) is a cast concrete wall painted with a diagonal perspective pattern, green on one side and black on the other, visually disrupting its material presence. While operating clearly as a sculpture, the piece has echoes of the ‘temporary’ coercive and protective blocks that have become commonplace in our urban settings. Her interest in heightening our self-awareness in relation to the sculptural environment is likewise reflected in Technical Support (2021), the first work in the main space. Its spindly form of stacked multi-coloured cast tapes reach the ceiling proudly, as if pretending to actually fulfil a structural function.
Throughout the exhibition, sculptures are presented on concrete plinths: Eye of the Rainbow (pale) (2021), The World Wide Web (2021), and Tranquillity Now (black) (2020), call to mind influences of traditional modernist sculpture - in particular, repeating the trope of the open sculpture in which the viewer is prescribed with the choice of viewing the world through the work, or looking at the sculpture alone.
By deliberately destabilising physical and visual characteristics in her work, Rothschild not only questions the aesthetics of art, in particular minimalism, but engages the viewer in an active relationship with the sculpture. Daybed 01 (BMS) (2019) and Daybed 02 (BMS) (2019) and Rothschild’s cast stools allow us moments of rest in the space; they signal that we are welcome and give us access to the materiality of the works, making us part of the mise-en-scène created in every exhibition.
Screening in the Bricks Space is Boys and Sculpture (2012), which captures the interaction between a group of young boys in a gallery with Rothschild’s works: cautious observation soon gives way to an unsatiated curiosity that ultimately descends into joyful chaos and play - reaffirming that our presence is in constant dialogue with the conversation that Rothschild’s practice instigates, further emphasising the body’s key role in the act of making and experiencing artworks.

Rebar, cast jesmonite, spray paint, glass reinforced concrete plinth
90 x 60 x 9 cm, Plinth 120 x 30 x 30 cm

Painted steel, glass reinforced concrete plinth, silicone rubber
186 x 75 x 67 cm, Plinth 120 x 30 x 30 cm

Rebar, cast jesmonite, rubber, glass reinforced concrete plinth
90 x 60 x 60 cm, Plinth: 120 x 30 x 30 cm

Rebar, cast jesmonite, spray paint
90 x 60 x 9 cm, Plinth 120 x 30 x 30 cm

Concrete, steel, synthetic polymer paint
163.5 x 625.5 x 30.0 cm, 64.4 x 246.3 x 11.8 in

Rebar, jesmonite, sealer, foam, printed and dyed fabric
87 x 189 x 69.5 cm (inc. cusions), 34 1/4 x 74 3/8 x 27 3/8 in

Foam, rebar, printed fabric, procean dyes
71 x 191 x 71 cm (inc. bolsters), 28 x 75 1/4 x 28 in

Painted rebar, jesmonite, fibreglass, paint
41 x 41 x 33.5 cm, 16 1/8 x 16 1/8 x 13 1/4 in

Jesmonite, fibreglass, rebar, paint
42 x 32 x 41 cm, 16 1/2 x 12 5/8 x 16 1/8 in

Jesmonite, fibreglass, rebar, paint
42 x 32 x 41 cm, 16 1/2 x 12 5/8 x 16 1/8 in

Painted rebar, jesmonite, fibreglass, paint
41 x 41.5 x 32.5 cm, 16 1/8 x 16 3/8 x 12 3/4 in
Her work has been the subject of exhibitions worldwide, selected solo exhibitions include: ‘The Shrinking Universe’, VISUAL, Carlow (2020); ‘Furniture and Ceramics’, Blue Projects, Blue Mountain School, London (2019); ‘The Shrinking Universe’, Irish Pavilion, Biennale Arte, Venice, Italy (2019); ‘Kosmos’, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, Australia and touring to City Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand (2018-19); ‘Alternative to Power’, The New Art Gallery Walsall, UK (2016); Hugh Lane Museum, Dublin, Ireland (2014); ‘What the Eye Wants’, Modern Art, London, UK (2014); ‘Narcissus’, Eva Presenhuber, Zurich, Switzerland (2013); ‘Sightings’, Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, USA (2012); ‘Childrens Art Commission: Eva Rothschild: Boys and Sculpture’, Whitechapel, London, UK (2012); The Modern Institute, Osborne Street, Glasgow, UK (2012); ‘Hot Touch’, The Hepworth Wakefield, UK and touring to Kunstverein Hannover, Hannover, Germany (2011 - 2012); ‘Empire’, Doris C. Freedman Plaza, Central Park, New York, USA (Public Art Fund commission, 2011); Duveen Commission 2009, Tate Britain, London, UK (2009); South London Gallery, London, UK (2007); and Kunsthalle Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland (2004).