The MONUMENTAL project is a collaboration between GOWEN Geneva, Art Paris and with the generous support of Gander & White, Maison Belmont and Obedir.

Presented by GOWEN Geneva, two monumental sculptures by Sophie Ryder, Girl With Knees Up, 2019, and Sitting Minotaur, 2020, will be installed in front of the main entrance of the Grand Palais, greeting visitors to the 27^th edition of Art Paris.

The contemporary practice of acclaimed French-British artist Sophie Ryder (b. 1963 London) holds at its core the invention of singular, often playful and impassioned narratives frequently expressed through symbolic, grand-scale, sculptural works. Reflecting Ryder’s unique artistic language and conceptual inquiry, two of the artist’s most iconic sculptures, Girl With Knees Up, 2019 and Sitting Minotaur, 2020, are installed on the forecourt of the main entrance to the Grand Palais. Exploring the complexities of emotion through animal imagery, Ryder’s work brings together an imaginary cast of characters with which she describes her life, relationships and experience as a human being. Drawing on mythology and the natural world, Ryder frequently melds forms to combine the attitudes and instincts of each. Fabricated with galvanised steel wire – a material which became an obsession of the artist after years of studying at the Royal Academy of Art in London and one of her primary means of expression – Ryder’s works have evolved in stature. Often up to 10 metres high, her works are powerful not only in scale but also in the manner – customarily through the elaboration of hybrid animal and human figures – in which they represent broad themes dealing with personal sentiment and circumstance such as family, sexuality, spirituality, or human experience.

From her series of monumental works produced over the past 30 years, Girl With Knees Up, 2019 demonstrates Ryder’s fascination with hybrids. The archetypal Lady Hare has long occupied her imagination, and the human parts are based on the artist’s own body. Like wearing a mask, the persona of the hare, as with many of Ryder’s other characters, renders the figure’s identity fluid and enigmatic

The image of the minotaur, something which stems from Ryder’s studies in Greek mythology at school, reoccurs throughout the artist’s oeuvre. With the Lady Hare, developed by Ryder as a companion to the Minotaur, the two sculptures evoke the interplay between masculine and feminine energies. Generally viewed as a ferocious and violent creature feeding on man for sustenance, Ryder’s minotaur is, in comparison, not threatening, but strong, loving and protective.

Immersing herself body and soul into the process of making on a monumental scale, the artist explores the physicality and spatial dimensions occupied by her work, something which the viewer may experience as they interact with Ryder’s characters. Their anonymous, mysterious aspect offers entry into her unique world and perhaps, momentarily allowing the audience to become part of it. Often designed with public spaces in mind, the wire sculptures, in certain lights, take on a transparent aspect to reveal smaller figures inside. Just like the hare’s ability to appear and disappear, Ryder’s larger works, with their lightness and transparency, are animated by the sky passing through, giving them life.

This is the first collaboration between Sophie Ryder and GOWEN at Art Paris. The presentation reflects the gallery’s unique curatorial approach to presenting singular works by artists experimenting in the wider contemporary field.