Mandarin Oriental Ritz, Madrid – reopening Spring 2021
25 January 2021
Art: On collecting contemporary art
28 January 2021Face to face
Sculptor Justine Asprey has created a series of works portraying contemporary artists in the materials of their choice and inspiration
M ark Leckey has been stolen. Or rather a bronze bust of Mark Leckey, painted in purple car spray with glittering gold jewellery, was taken by thieves in spring 2015 and, as yet, its whereabouts is still unknown.
‘I couldn’t quite believe it when I heard it had gone. It was next to work by Gilbert & George and they stole mine; a little bit of me was rather chuffed!’ says sculptor Justine Asprey.
The piece, since recast, depicts Leckey before winning the Turner Prize in 2008 for Industrial Light and Magic. His samurai-style topknot, which got the chop after his victory, sprouts out of his head, light shines off the purple lustre and a gold necklace hangs around the neck.
It’s a beautiful piece, juxtaposing the brash colouring with a remarkable depth of detail in the threads of hair and the curls of his beard. Yet, beyond the details of the face, Asprey has captured the very essence of the artist. His wit, his frivolity and his clear sense of self and intensity. The fact it is cast in bronze and painted in purple ’flip-flop’ car paint and gold-leaf jewellery gives it a lively resonance, not least for the thieves who took the original.
The Leckey sculpture is part of an ongoing project to produce busts of contemporary artists, but with a unique twist.
Asprey explains: ‘The material I have used to cast each bust has been chosen by the artist for its relevance to their personal or artistic life: it could be the way in which they work, a detail from their personal life or, simply, where they are from.
‘When you are sculpting it’s just you and them – it’s weirdly intimate. We share things that perhaps you wouldn’t share with other people.’
‘Mark told me he wanted to be represented as somebody between a fast car and a very flashy mobile phone, and he suggested glittery purple.’ And remarkably, this isn’t even the most striking of sculptures she has produced, nor the most eccentric.
British portraitist Alessandro Raho was cast in gold, and cycling enthusiast Graham Little in aluminium. Asprey adds: ‘Richard Wilson wanted to be cast in water or smoke and Marc Camille Chaimowicz only had one condition; he wanted to be invisible!’
The list of artists Justine has portrayed so far is a diverse snapshot of contemporary art. Others include painter Keith Coventry, the ‘disruptor’ Michael Landy and a fellow sculptor and cut-paper artist Christian Flamm.
‘I find people fascinating to look at, and most people have at least one beautiful thing about their face.’
‘Artists interest me most, plus it’s a lovely way to spend time with my heroes. When you're sculpting it’s just you and them – it’s weirdly intimate, like going to the hairdressers! We share things that perhaps you wouldn’t share with other people. ‘Sculpture has been out of fashion for a while,’ Asprey adds. ‘But if you admire someone it’s magical to spend time with them and have a good stare.’
The added layer of the process whereby the artist depicted chooses the material adds a depth that resonates deeply with the character of the artist themselves and also contextualises the artist in a time and place.
Coventry, for example, is cast in black bronze plaintively looking skyward. He chose black bronze at a time he was painting a lot of black on black, plus it related to his upbringing in Burnley, a town once made wealthy by coal and now much more economically depressed.
Michael Landy, one of the Young British Artists, chose the finish to be the same signal red as the industrial plastic used for his large-scale installation called Scrapheap Services (1995), in which he imagined a cleaning company sweeping up the unwanted people from a workforce. Later, in his very well-known Break Down (2001) artwork – for which he destroyed all of his possessions – the bust went in the giant skip.
‘When the bust was dropped, there was something hilarious that only the ear broke off.’
The concept first arose when Asprey was making a portrait of German artist Antje Majewski, known for her photorealistic figurative paintings. ‘She painted a portrait of me and I did one of her in clay. We then collaborated and I thought it would be an interesting twist on a conventional art form – collaborating with an artist on the materials.’
‘I was employed to copy an Alberto Giacometti sculpture for a restaurant and it just made sense to me.’
Majewski was cast in copper and has a verdigris patina relating to the work with the metal she was doing at the time. Asprey started out studying animation and found it was working in 3D that she really enjoyed, rather than sitting in front of a lightbox all day.
After college she switched to model making, creating items for adverts and private commissions, before discovering what really thrilled her. ‘I was employed to copy an Alberto Giacometti sculpture for a restaurant and it just made sense to me.’
She then went on to study head and figure sculpture in San Francisco and, in her words, become impassioned by it.
‘It’s so quick and energetic,' she says. 'You have a pencil and a rubber in your hand at the same time. I also love working with clay. It’s natural, smells great, looks great and feels great. It’s a sensual material. And it’s cheap as chips.’
The process of creating a bust involves taking lots of measurements, photos and several sittings with the model. Then once the clay sculpture is finished, it’s cast in whatever material the artist wants… usually.
Among private commissions and work for friends, the artists series will continue indefinitely.
‘By the end of my career I want to have sculpted all the artists I really admire,’ Asprey says. But it is the actual process of sculpting people she seems to enjoy the most. ‘I find people fascinating to look at, and most people have at least one beautiful thing about their face.’
Words: DH
