CANBERRA.- Jordan Wolfson is an artist whose work reflects the situation of the world today. Acting as a witness to the shadow forces within the human condition, Wolfson positions the audience in a physical and moral confrontation with issues facing society and our own place within them.

Wolfson’s animatronic sculptures stage the artist’s desire to reach a deeper register of audience feeling. His works reside at the interface of art history and new technology, drawing from a formal lineage of twentieth-century sculpture as well as images and motifs from the mass media, popular culture and the internet.

This is the first solo presentation of Wolfson’s work in Australia and will feature the world premiere of Body Sculpture — a major acquisition for the National Gallery’s collection. As with Wolfson’s previous animatronic works Female Figure 2014 and Colored Sculpture 2016, this new work combines sculpture and performance to generate emotional and physical responses in the viewer. Body Sculpture will be shown alongside key works from the national collection selected by the artist, offering Australian audiences further insights into Wolfson’s innovative vision.

‘The intention is that the movement of [Body Sculpture] elicits the viewer to become activated in their bodies and therefore present… It’s about seeing ourselves through three‑dimensional objects, which is what I believe sculpture as doing’ - Jordan Wolfson

National Gallery, Australia

Home to the most valuable collection of art in Australia, the national collection comprises over 155,000 works of art, including the world’s largest collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art. Our significant collection represents the whole of Australian art, modern art worldwide, particularly from Europe and America, and art from across Asia and the Pacific. The collection includes some of the finest examples in Australia of French Impressionism, Dada and Surrealism, the Russian avant-garde, Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Minimalism and Conceptual Art.

National Gallery
Jordan Wolfson: Body Sculpture
December 9th, 2023 - April 28th, 2024
Curator: Russell Storer, Head Curator, International Art