125 Newbury presents Lucas Samaras: Chalk and Bronze, an exhibition showcasing two distinct yet interconnected bodies of work by the Greek-born American artist. This includes over two dozen vibrant, never-before-seen pastels from the 1960s and a suite of figurative bronze sculptures created in the early 1980s.
Samaras, a pivotal figure in the New York avant-garde, began using pastels as a means of communication after emigrating to the U.S. from Greece during the 1940s. “Art was the only thing I could do without speaking,” he explained. These pastels, integral to his practice, shaped his palette and artistic identity. The works, often self-portraits, depict fragmented or contorted figures against vivid monochromatic backgrounds, exploring the boundaries between body and world.
The 1980s bronzes, rare in Samaras’s oeuvre, transform the hardness of metal into the softness of flesh, reflecting on the human condition. Together, the pastels and bronzes reveal Samaras’s relentless innovation and pursuit of formal evolution.
