LONDON.- Waddington Custot announced that the gallery now represents American sculptor Jedd Novatt and will present a solo exhibition of new work in London, from 16 November 2018 to 2 February 2019.
Stephane Custot, Chairman of Waddington Custot, explains: "I have long admired Jedd Novatt's powerful, instinctual works that seem to defy physics. He joins a number of important sculptors in our programme including David Annesley, John Chamberlain, Barry Flanagan and Robert Indiana, and we are delighted to have an opportunity to work closely with him on new work for his first exhibition with us."
Novatt is renowned for his monumental sculptures constructed from linear, asymmetrical and quadratic shapes, which seek to investigate and challenge preconceived notions of space. His sculptures juxtapose the material solidity of heavy industrial metals against a 'weightlessness' achieved through his dynamic compositions. The open cubic forms attempt to carve out and make concrete internal space, whilst the sculpture itself appears fragile and on the verge of collapse. His towering arrangements allude to the primordial state of disorder and the structural tensions specific to sculpture.
For his first exhibition at Waddington Custot, Novatt will present new sculptures, the most recent from his Chaos series, including two monumental compositions in stainless steel, around 3-metres high, alongside other smaller sculptures in Cor-ten steel. Light plays an important role for Novatt, who sees the shadows cast by his sculptures as an extension of the physical sculpture and a form of drawing in space. This will be demonstrated by dramatic lighting of the installation within the gallery space.
Sculptures from the Chaos series are installed worldwide in prominent public collections, such as Pérez Art Museum Miami, Florida; Middlebury College Museum of Art, Vermont; SCAD Museum of Art, Georgia; La Piscine Musée d'Art et d'Industrie, France; Chatsworth House, Derbyshire and City of Bilbao, Spain.
Jedd Novatt (b. 1958, Brooklyn, New York) graduated from Sarah Lawrence College, New York, in 1980, and went on to pursue sculpture at Lacoste School of Art, France (later merged with Savannah College of Art and Design, Georgia). He returned to New York in 1981 and had his first solo exhibition at Tibor de Nagy Gallery. Novatt was invited to participate in the Beyond Limits, Sotheby’s at Chatsworth annual exhibition in 2008 (and later in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2016). His work has entered important international public collections, including List Visual Arts Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts; El Paso Museum of Art, Texas; Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio; Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, Florida; Chatsworth House Trust, Derbyshire; and Yountville, Napa Valley, California.
Novatt lives with his family in Paris, and divides time between his studios in Paris; Ménerbes, Provence; and Basque Country, Spain.
