Richard Deacon's Early Works Revived in Strasbourg Retrospective

The Musée d'art moderne et contemporain in Strasbourg presents 'The Missing Part', a retrospective of British sculptor Richard Deacon (born 1949) from May 29 to September 19, 2010. The exhibition uniquely revisits Deacon's student works from St Martins School of Art (1969-1972) and Royal College of Art (1974-1977), including performances, drawings, and photographs. The main hall features 'Quick' (2009), a large oak and steel structure newly acquired by the museum, while the temporary exhibition space houses fifteen sculptures, including the iconic 'Laocoon' (1996), a reinterpretation of the Greek masterpiece focusing on structural tensions and void. The installation alternates between compact, heavy forms and light, transparent works, with bright lighting that flattens shadows to emphasize technical process. Deacon stated he avoided dimmed lighting that glorifies works. The second part, in intimate rooms, showcases lesser-known pieces: drawings, photographs, and documentation of performances exploring material manipulation. A trip to the United States in the late 1970s helped Deacon define his method through drawings of convex/concave relationships, leading him to work with metal, wood, resin, ceramic, paper, plastic, and leather. Deacon remarked he took up sculpture to stop doing photography.