Artist Sarah Lucas unveils new furniture collection in Milan


Lucas, one of the core members of Britain's YBA movement, has designed a new furniture limited edition furniture collection, with prices made from Breeze blocks and MDF


One of the core members of Britain's YBA (Young British Artists movement) in the Nineties, Sarah Lucus became known for her wry and often shocking sculpture and installations. But visitors to this year's Milan furniture Fair, which takes place from 8 to 13 April will get to see another side to Lucas's work - a range of furniture that's designed to be used as well as looked at.

Sarah Lucas Furniture Collection

Lucas has always made use of furniture is her art. Chairs and beds - of at least mattress - have cropped up in her sculpture, which is often composed of 'found' objects. In the series, Bunny (1997 - onwards), the chair was a key component of the work - stuffed tights clamped to chair legs implied splayed legs in an ambiguous expression of either sexual availability or vulnerability. One implication of this new body of work is that real human bodies have assumed the place, or status, of sculptures.

Sarah Lucas Furniture Collection

The materials used in the furniture pieces are also familiar ground for Lucas. Produced in collaboration with specialist fabricators the London Art Workshop, Sarah Lucas Furniture is made of mass-produced, basic construction materials - concrete breeze blocks and MDF - that have pervaded her art for several years.

Sarah Lucas Furniture Collection

For each of the pieces, identically sized and exactingly arranged breeze blocks have been embedded into hard edged, minimalist MDF frameworks, creating a brutalist kind of inlay or 'intarsia', the antique practice of setting wood or stone within a surface.

Sarah Lucas Furniture Collection

Lucas describes the concrete and MDF materials as 'surprisingly stylish', pinpointing their appeal through their 'texture, colour - both of which seem very 'real'. To Lucas, using these versatile materials is 'meaningful in terms of their uses in the outside world. They say a lot and are also low key, they don't overwhelm the sculptures'.

Sarah Lucas Furniture Collection

The range, which comprises 14 limited edition, numbered, stamped and signed new furniture designs, is on show in Milan courtesy of London art gallery Sadie Coles HQ.

Sarah Lucas Furnitrue Collection

8 - 12 April 2014 (Tues: 10.00 - 15.00; Wed - Sat: 10.00 -19.00)
Private View: Tues 8 April 2014 (17.00 - 20.00)
Via San Gregorio 43 / Via Casati 32
20124 Milano








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