Sarah Lucas
Sarah Lucas
Cherubim/Allegory of Love 2006
Photo courtesy Sam Drake © Tate
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Sarah Lucas
Eros, 2006
Christmas Card
© Sarah Lucas
Courtesy Sadie Coles HQ, London
Sarah Lucas
Cherubim/Allegory of Love 2006
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Every year since 1988 Tate has commissioned a leading contemporary artist to design its Christmas Tree. The tree is situated in the Rotunda at Tate Britain. From 1991 the commissioned artist has also created the Director's Christmas Card. This section of the website traces the history of the Christmas Tree and documents the associated objects, cards as well as the press and public reaction to the work.
Tate Britain has commissioned Sarah Lucas to create its Christmas tree for 2006, which will be on display from 8 December 2006.
The tree is decorated with sculptures that take the form of baby angels made from wire and stretched tights. This chorus of fairies refers to figures from the classics such as Cupid, Eros, and Venus, which descending from above are multiplied over the tree. Lucas questions the erotic overtones often associated with these mythical figures through her decorations' matter-of-fact material quality and their function as ornaments.
They are also hanging a stocking on a tree.
The sculptures of Los's Halls in Golgonooza are the ideal forms of
'all that can happen to Man in his pilgrimage of seventy years' in
every conceivable combination. They are the reservoir of inspiration
for all artists ... Los's sculptures are the 'wonderful originals called
in the Sacred Scriptures the Cherubim'.
Taken from A Blake Dictionary by S Foster Damon.
Biography
Sarah Lucas was born in London, England in 1962. She studied at Goldsmiths College, London and emerged as a major artist in the 1990s. She is best known for her provocative sculptures and self-portraits and the way she incorporates everyday objects - cigarettes, food, furniture, tights and tabloid newspapers - into her art. Her work often challenges stereotypical representations of sexuality through visual and verbal puns.
Sarah Lucas specially thanks Olivier Garbay
Further information:
View works by Sarah Lucas in the Tate Collection
Sarah Lucas exhibition at Tate Liverpool
28 October 2005 - 15 January 2006
