A triangular discussion between Claire Mander, theCOLAB The Artist's Garden, Virginia Overton, Artist and Hannah Gruy, Director, White Cube on the occasion of the installation of Overton’s work Untitled (Chime for Caro) at The Artist's Garden, Temple and her forthcoming exhibition at White Cube, Mason's Yard.

Bringing together prominent voices from the UK and the US, this collaborative discussion encompasses the perspectives of the artist, the commercial gallery and the commissioner/curator of outdoor public space.  Through the artist’s work, they will consider the reclamation of public space by artists, quotidian sculptural materials and the role of the commercial gallery in public space. 

About theCOLAB

theCOLAB unites people, land and art by commissioning epic, life-affirming and career-defining sculptural works in undervalued and underused outdoor public spaces.  Claire Mander, Director and Trustee of registered charity theCOLAB, launched the programme in 2011 and it continues to forge opportunities for the commissioning of complex large-scale interventions in unusual sites beyond the white cube and into the landscape.

About The Artist’s Garden and M A R Y   M A R Y

The Artist's Garden has transformed a 1,400sqm hidden and neglected roof terrace above Temple tube station into a place for the public to experience large-scale life affirming artistic interventions by women artists. Situated next to Somerset House and accessible by steps from Temple Place it is only a 7-minute walk from RSA.  A popular public open barrier free destination for the contemplation and appreciation of the power of sculptural interventions by women artists, its 85 metres of river frontage offers extensive views and a vibrant programme of artist commissions, residencies in the Artist's Hut and an education programme for 13-16 year olds. It is open to the public all day every day for free from 8am until dusk. 

Its current exhibition, M A R Y   M A R Y, enacts a large-scale reclamation of public space by a diverse group of nine artists: Rong Bao, Olivia Bax, Lucy Gregory, Virginia Overton, Candida Powell–Williams, Frances Richardson, Holly Stevenson, LR Vandy, Alice Wilson. Their work subverts and reimagines the garden, positively reframes the characterisation of forceful women as ‘contrary’, long embedded in our national consciousness and demonstrates the refreshingly non-conformist approaches of women artists.  The works offer new perspectives on the possibilities of sculpture materially and as a conduit for revealing untold stories.

thecolab.art or info@thecolab.art for more information.  

About Untitled (chime for Caro) (2022)

Virginia Overton’s Untitled (chime for Caro) (2022) is a large scale interactive kinetic sculpture, constructed from offcuts of steel belonging to Anthony Caro that he deposited at Yorkshire Sculpture Park for use by future generations of sculptors. Overton spent time at Yorkshire Sculpture Park sorting through Caro’s steel, selecting pieces she could assemble into new compositions or pair with other materials “to make a conversation between the two”. Here, Overton hangs these heavy steel remnants across a large A-frame gantry, pairing each with a hollow aluminium pipe, which when activated by viewers or the wind dissipates the heaviness of the material into the lightness of sound waves, allowing the work to reach beyond its own physical parameters.  Overton’s work is in dialogue with a long line of sculptors including Caro but is distinguished by her intuitive and experimental approach to making in response to specific places and materials. Growing up on a farm in Lebanon, Tennessee she has a sensitivity to land and the intrinsic energy of materials, which she collects and creates into sculptures and installations, some of which she repurposes for the next work

About Virginia Overton

Virginia Overton’s work, which includes installation, sculpture and photography, is the result of her direct intuitive response to specific spaces and materials. From a process of research and exploration, she creates works that re-activate the viewer’s spatial and sensory experience with an elegant physicality.

Overton was born in Nashville, Tennessee and lives and works in New York. Solo exhibitions include Borotlami, New York 2024; Hypermaremma, Orbetello, Italy (2023); Goldsmiths CCA, London (2022); White Cube Hong Kong (2020); Socrates Sculpture Park, New York (2018); Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson, Arizona (2017); Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2016); The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, Connecticut (2016); Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami (2014); Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster, Germany (2013); Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland (2013). Group exhibitions include Lavinia, Villa Borghese, Rome (2024); 59th Venice Biennale (2022); The Ranch, Montauk, New York (2021); Hayward Gallery, London (2020); Front Triennial, Cleveland (2018); and Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2016).

About White Cube and Virginia Overton’s forthcoming exhibition

Opening January 17th 2025, White Cube Mason’s Yard is pleased to present a solo exhibition by American artist Virginia Overton.

In 2024 Overton transformed salvaged materials from the historic decommissioned Domino Sugar Factory site in 2023 into a wall-based public sculpture which now resides inside the building. Enamelled steel, abundant hardware and steel off-cuts from this commission have been repurposed and reassembled into a new series of sculptures. Informed by line, form and colour the new wall reliefs in this exhibition continue Overton’s interest in the poetic tensions in her chosen materials and their otherness.  

Overton has said, ‘Reusing existing materials as a way to extend the life of objects is integral to my practice. It was a privilege to be able to work with a piece of history from America’s industrial heyday and reimagine this historic artifact as a sculpture that honours the sign’s storied past while embracing its possibilities for the future’.