The human factor

de Ralph Rugoff, Paweł Althamer, Penelope Curtis

'The Human Factor: the Figure in Contemporary Sculpture' brings together the work of 25 leading international artists, in whose practice the human form plays a central role. Over the past 25 years, artists have reinvented figurative sculpture by looking back to earlier movements in art history as well as imagery from contemporary culture. Setting up dialogues with modernist as well as classical and archaic models of art, these artists engage and confront the question of how we represent the 'human' today. Eschewing concerns related to psychological portraiture, these artists use the figure as a catalyst for evoking far-ranging content, including subjects spanning political violence and mortality to sexuality and voyeurism. A unique survey of figurative sculpture today, this highly illustrated volume features newly-commissioned essays by authors including Tate Britain Director, Penelope Curtis, art critic and writer Martin Herbert, Artangel co-director James Lingwood, art historian Lisa Lee and Hayward Gallery Director, and curator of the exhibition, Ralph Rugoff. Alongside full-colour images of the artists' works, the book also includes original and rarely-seen material documenting the creation of these fascinating works.