Lot 18: RICHARD HUDSON

MARILYN MONROE
inscribed Hudson., dated 2009, numbered 1/3 and stamped with the foundry mark Magisa. España

height: 250cm., 98 3/8 in.

mirror polished stainless steel

<P>Conceived in 2002 and executed in an edition of 3 plus two artist's proofs. </P>

Richard Hudson's highly sensuous and tactile sculpture Marilyn Monroe reveals the sculptor's obsession with material perfection and his desire to engage the spectator with the work of art on an intimate level. Explaining the inspiration behind this powerful work Hudson cites 'her iconic beauty as a 'real woman' with incredible curves, as opposed to the skinny models we see today.' He continues: 'the solid reflective state of this work displays this sense of femininity in what appears to be an awe-inspiring unending line of sheer voluptuousness.' Hudson's distinctive abstract-figurative style was originally inspired by the fecund landscapes he experienced during his extensive travels. In his recent sculptures he has applied this unique style to the nude female form, which he amplifies and abstracts.

Hudson's work is informed by his belief that essential, natural pleasures can be expressed in sculpture through aesthetic beauty and purity of form. Fabricated in mirror polished stainless steel, the present work displays a distinctly fetishistic quality ? every undulation reflects the spectator's own image over its surface as if close, touching. Despite its distinctive feminine contours, Marilyn Monroe is markedly phallic ? erect, totemic. Hudson's sculptures lend themselves naturally to an outdoor context. Indeed he has remarked: 'public sculpture always creates a wider debate by its very nature of being in the public domain. I love the controversy it creates.'

In recent years Hudson has exhibited in London, Beijing, Dallas and Valencia. He is currently working on a public exhibition of monumental sculptures to be displayed outside the historic Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid in 2010.