The artist’s work is characterized by irreverent humor and the creation of visual puns and vulgar euphemisms referring to sex, death and identity. Nodding to the gallery’s geography, the exhibition includes two exquisite corpses made of cigarettes depicting Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, intervened replicas of Prehispanic coyote sculptures, a tracing of a drawing by the Russian- Mexican painter Vlady, through which Lucas makes notable references to her relationship with Mexican culture since her first visit to the country. The works that Lucas presents here are in continuity with the experiences that she has cultivated with local friends and collaborators.

Lucas’ practice is based primarily on sculpture, installation, and photography, and involves diverse materials that span from carved stone, to resin moulds, eggs, as well as food and beer cans, to mention only a few. The artist uses cigarettes as a recurring artistic motif, symbolizing a central  habit in her life that, while self-destructive, gives her a space for reflection, or as the artist says, “a tangible way of taking her time”.

This commentary on self-destruction and time gains relevance with her piece EPITAPH BLAH BLAH, 2018: a wrecked car adorned with waves of cigarettes. These cigarettes are transformed into a character with a palpable violence that is unsettling. Throughout the exhibition Lucas plays with everyday objects to create a fraught affirmation of their existence.

In the series RED SKY (2018) the artist is photographed in defiant poses as a searching game of her own personality, which is at the same time present and veiled by cigarette smoke.

DAME ZERO evokes a harsh view of human reality closely related to Lucas’ perception of the body and its vulnerability. This group of works seeks to question the way in which we understand and relate to inherent aspects of the human experience, such as sexuality, sickness, and death, as well as culture, and the symbols that make it distinguishable.

About the artist

Sarah Lucas is one of the leading figures of the generation of Young British Artists (YBA) who emerged during the 1990s. She studied in London at the Working Men’s College (1982–83), London College of Printing (1983–84), and Goldsmiths’ College (1984–87). Her most important exhibitions include: Sarah Lucas: Good Muse, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco | Legion of Honor (2017); FunQroc, CFA-Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin (2017); POWER IN WOMAN, The Soane Museum, London (2016); I SCREAM DADDIO, British Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennial (2015); Florian and Kevin, Aspen Art Museum, United States (2014); Sarah Lucas: SITUATION Absolute Beach Man Rubble, Whitechapel Gallery, London (2013); Lucas Bosch Gelatin, Kunsthalle Krems, Austria (201 1); Nuds Cycladic, Museum of Cycladic Art, Athens, Greece (2010); In-A-Gadda-Da-Vidda, Tate Britain, London (2004); Sarah Lucas, Tate Modern, London (2002); Penis Nailed to a Board, City Racing, London (1992). Her work has also been included in group exhibitions at institutions such as: Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, United Kingdom (2017); The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel (2017); Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Germany (2016); Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, France (2016); Tate Modern, London (2016); Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, United Kingdom (2016); Musées d’art et  d’histoire de Genève | Musée Rath, Geneva, Switzerland (2016); Royal Academy of Arts, London (2015); The Museum of Art, Kōchi, Japan (2014); New Museum, New York (2013); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2010); The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Ángeles (2009); Serpentine Gallery, London (2006); Kunsthaus Dresden, Germany (2004); Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin (1998); Musée d’ Art moderne de la Ville de Paris (1996), among others.

Sarah Lucas lives and works in London