Contemporary Sculpture: Sam Anderson & Michael Dean

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Michael Dean, EF (working title), 2016, Concrete, steel, book pages (scare hate), paperback publication and red ink. Courtesy the artist and Herald St, London. Photography: Kevin Todora

Michael Dean

Both American artist Sam Anderson and British artist Michael Dean are emerging as breakthrough artists in the contemporary landscape. Michael Dean’s works are abstract and, at times, lyrically representational. Beginning with concrete, he often adds other elements such as cable ties, paper, and books which are critical elements in his practice. Sam Anderson’s figurative works utilize long-standing formal traditions of sculpting the human figure. She, too, works with traditional materials such as clay, wood, and wire and often incorporates other elements such as, light, video, found elements in her work. Together, Anderson and Dean explore the junction of formalism and abstraction, forming a new poetic language in contemporary sculpture.

Sam Anderson was (b. 1982, Los Angeles, CA) received an MFA in sculpture from Yale University. She has had solo exhibitions at Sculpture Center, New York in 2017 and 2013. Other recent solo exhibitions include Big Bird, at Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne in 2017, and The Lonely Bill at Rowhouse Project in Baltimore, 2016. Anderson’s films have been included in exhibitions at Anthology Film Archives, New York. The artist lives and works in New York City.

Michael Dean (b. 1977, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK) has been widely exhibited for nearly two decades. In 2019, Dean will have a solo exhibition at the Museo Tamayo, Mexico City. Recent solo exhibitions include: the Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, 2016. In 2017, Dean participated in Skulptur Projekt Münster, and in 2016, was nominated for the Turner Prize and was shortlisted for the Hepworth Prize for Sculpture in 2018. The artist lives and works in London.