Christie’s curates, ‘House of Cards’, an exhibition of contemporary sculpture by a range of big name artists including Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Anish Kapoor, Anthony Gormley, Richard Serra and Donald Judd in the grounds of Waddesdon Manor, home of the Rothschild Collection and one of the UK’s most visited National Trust properties.
Each piece has been chosen for its connection with and response to Jean- Baptiste Siméon Chardin’s ‘Boy Building a House of Cards’, recently acquired by the collection and displayed alongside Chardin’s three other paintings of the same subject. The fragility of youth as well as the passage of time seem key themes which underpin ‘House of Cards’, something that is emphasised by the inclusion of Damien Hirst’s ‘This Little Piggy Went to Market, This Little Piggy Stayed at Home’ (1996). The neatly dissected body of a pig, preserved in formaldehyde is displayed in two boxes which slide past one another along a platform powered by an electric motor, at once terrifying and, to those who share Hirst’s fascination with the macabre, terribly, sickeningly funny.
Look out for Joana Vasconcelos’ giant wrought-iron teacup, finely worked in filigree motifs and created especially for the exhibition, as well as Urs Fischer’s delightfully disorientating, ‘Bad Timing, Lamb Chop!’, a massive packet of cigarettes leant precariously against a vast cast aluminium, wood effect chair, ingenious!
Located just outside of London (near Aylesbury) it’s definitely worth a visit.
