Alongside the series of performances in the Pavilion, American hyper realist sculptor Duane Hanson and British painter Lynette Yiadom-Boakye will be taking over the gallery this summer.
Duane Hanson’s uncanny portrayals of the American working class life have taken on an iconic status since his death in 1996, part pop, part photorealism, they elevate blue collar life and typical American scenes into something transcendental, uncanny, and deeply moving. Julia Peyton-Jones, the Serpentine’s co-director, explains that “Beyond the stunning realism, the power of Hanson’s work lies in his unwavering focus on and sympathy for the human condition.”
Alongside Hanson, will be an exhibition of the London born painter Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s work, famous for painting each work in just one day, Lynette’s work’s focus on black subjects take a relentless eye to the shortcomings of art history. Working in the tradition of oil, the speed at which she paints, gives her work a beautiful, indeterminate air. Julia Peyton-Jones describes them as existing “outside time and space, yet managing at the same time to reference a history of Western painting.”
Both exhibitions run from 2 June to 13 September.