LONDON.- On 27 May, the Saatchi Gallery opened The Shape of Things to Come: New Sculpture, an exhibition of 20 leading and emerging international artists working in sculpture today. This is the first time that the gallery space has been devoted entirely to three-dimensional works.

The Shape of Things to Come: New Sculpture provides an unprecedented look at some of the most exciting sculptural works created in recent years. From granite monoliths to neon structures, buckled cars to stuffed horse hide, the exhibition demonstrates the diversity and dynamism of the medium.

Composed, assembled, sewn, nailed, glued, stacked or layered from materials as varied as clay, polished metal, fabric, plywood, dirt, horse hide, Styrofoam and found objects, the works in the exhibition push the notions of the already expanded field of sculpture. The pieces here are united in the strength of their formal innovations and force of their engagement with contemporary issues. Running from the monumental to the miniature, many of the works play with scale creating a disorienting and charged space between viewer and work. Figurative forms, both human and animal, are used as sites of anxiety and instability challenging art historical archetypes to create a rich new sculptural vocabulary.

The Shape of Things to Come: New Sculpture features a selection of works by David Altmejd, John Baldessari, David Batchelor, Peter Buggenhout, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Matthew Brannon, Bjorn Dahlem, Folkert de Jong, Roger Hiorns, Martin Honert, Thomas Houseago, Joanna Malinowska, Kris Martin, Matthew Monahan, Dirk Skreber, Anselm Reyle, Sterling Ruby, David Thorpe, Oscar Tuazon and Rebecca Warren.

In October 2008, the Saatchi Gallery re-opened in the 70,000 sq. ft Duke of York’s HQ building on King’s Road in the heart of London. With free admission to all shows, the Saatchi Gallery aims to bring contemporary art to the widest audience possible. The Gallery attracts over 1.25 million visitors a year.

Following on from the Saatchi Gallery having the top two most visited exhibitions in London in 2009, The Art Newspaper’s international survey of 2010 museum attendance ranked last year’s exhibitions as the second, third and fourth most visited, surpassed only by Van Gogh at the Royal Academy of Arts.