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October 7, 2006
Hans Bellmer at Whitechapel Gallery
by Lee Adams

This fantastic retrospective - on tour from the Pompidou Centre, where I saw it earlier in the year, is centred on Bellmer's twin concepts of the 'anatomy of desire' and 'convulsive beauty'.

Between 1934 & the late 60's, Bellmer produced a prolific, violent and subversive body of work, described by the curators as "A monstorous dictionary" dedicated to the ambivilance of the body'.

His eminently transgressive exploration of corporeal integrity & sexual identity makes Bellmer's work, more than most artists of his generation, particularly relevant to our contemporary sensibilities.

FREE at the Whitechapel Gallery Until 19 November.


Whitechapel Gallery