A Library of Leaves [All the Gravity]

Location

Country: Switzerland
City: Berne
Place: British Embassy

A Library of Leaves, a sculpture by Martin Boyce, presents an irregular leaf-shaped piece of wood that looks as if it may have once been a piece of furniture, in the centre of what looks like a concrete panel, patterned with wood grain. The combination of materials produces a play of contrasting textures between the smoothness of the wood and the divergent lines of the panel. In fact, the background surface is made from Jesmonite – a water-based substance that is used to cast other materials and can replicate virtually any surface, colour, or texture. In this case, Boyce uses Jesmonite to mimic the effect of wood grain.

Scattered in an abstract manner across the plywood form are several letters, which on close observation, reveal the fractured text of the line ‘All the Gravity’ echoed in the title of the work. The title, along with the forms and materials of the work, presents a subtle play on words – conjuring up mental images of books and library; leaves and paper leaves; materials and simulation. Above all, this sculpture reveals Boyce’s ongoing interest in the formal structures of Modernist art and design. In 2010, his solo exhibition, A Library of Leaves (Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Switzerland) included works that were inspired by a black-and-white photograph of concrete tree sculptures originally produced in 1925 by the French twin artists, Jan and Joël Martel (1896–1966), for the Exposition des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. After analysing the underlying schematic structure of the trees, Boyce developed his own distinctive alphabet, since when, examples of which have featured in many of his own works. With their sense of displacement and artificiality, his elegiac installations often highlight what he regards as the failure of the visionary ideals that once motivated the early Modernist movement. 

As seen in this work, Boyce borrows elements from classic furniture design of the 1940s and 1950s. By re-appropriating ‘classic’ objects (for instance, Arne Jacobsen chairs) he exposes the Modernist assumption that ‘good design’ should be affordable to all, not just the wealthy. 

Places

Subjects

Materials & Techniques

plywood, stain, oil, steel, wall sculpture, Jesmonite

Artist

Martin Boyce (1967 - )

Title

A Library of Leaves [All the Gravity]

Date

2013

Medium

Jesmonite, plywood, stain, oil and steel

Dimensions

height: 60.90 cm, width: 45.80 cm, depth: 4.70 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from The Modern Institute, November 2015

Provenance

The Modern Institute, from whom purchased November 2015

GAC number

18671