The third episode in a special series of conversations from Shade, supported by Hauser & Wirth, is with artist Thomas J Price.

‘Unencumbered Voices in Curated Spaces’ is a three-part podcast series inspired by the life and work of Sir Frank Bowling, providing a collaborative platform for diverse perspectives investigating freedom of expression today and throughout art history. Hosted by Lou Mensah, Shade engages a wide community of creatives across disciplines, who have challenged existing narratives on representation and identity within their work.

‘The characters I sculpt they don’t look for validation because I don’t want to play that game. They’re not real people because I don’t want to play that game. It’s about making a statement of: ‘I feel that model’s defunct and has never really served anyone properly because it ultimately serves up lies or PR’. Statues have been PR [for the powerful] since they’ve begun.’—Thomas J Price

Thomas J Price has rapidly become one of the most important British contemporary sculptors of his generation, subverting stereotypical representations of figures we value in society and traditional power structures. The artist works across disciplines, predominantly in sculpture, but also in film and photography. Conceptually focused, Price engages with issues of power, representation, interpretation and perception both in society and in art.

Born in London in 1981, Price studied at Chelsea College of Art and the Royal College of Art in London. Price has held solo exhibitions at prestigious institutions including The Power Plant, Toronto, Canada; The National Portrait Gallery, London, UK; MAC, Birmingham, UK; Harewood House, Leeds, UK; and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton, UK.

This July he will take up post as artist-in-residence at Hauser & Wirth Somerset ahead of his inaugural solo exhibition with the gallery in October 2021.

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Hauser & Wirth

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