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Ship of Fools, Belly of the Beast, 1986
Aluminium bathtub, enamel paint and found objects
64 x 190 x 78 cm
One-off piece
Paul Maenz Gallery, Cologne;
Barbara Farber Collection, Amsterdam
Acquired from this gallery by the current owner.
Lynne Cooke, 'Bill Woodrow: The Ship of Fools', Parkett, vol. 12, Zurich, March 1987, pp. 10, 11, 16 (illustrated, p. 16)
Cologne, Paul Maenz, Bill Woodrow. Neue Skulpturen, 25 Avril-31 Mai 1986
Edinburgh, Fruitmarket Gallery, Bill Woodrow: Sculpture, 13 Septembre-25 Octobre 1986, pp. 140-141 (illustré p. 141)
Amsterdam, KunstRai 87, Een Keuze: hedendaagse kunst uit Europa: 1987 / A choice: contemporary art from Europe: 1987, 3-8 Juin 1987
Born in 1948, Bill Woodrow is a leading figure in New British Sculpture, a movement that revitalised British sculpture from the 1980s onwards, alongside artists such as Tony Cragg, Anish Kapoor and Richard Deacon.
After representing the United Kingdom at the São Paulo Biennial in 1991, his work was celebrated with a solo exhibition at Tate Modern in London in 1996. Since then, his works have been exhibited in numerous international institutions, including the Jeu de Paume in Paris, Les Abattoirs in Toulouse, the Saatchi Gallery and the Royal Academy of Arts in London, of which he is an elected member.
Using everyday objects and discarded materials, Bill Woodrow creates sculptures with a strong symbolic charge. His work questions the mechanisms of consumer society whilst favouring a direct visual approach, in which humour and poetry play an essential role.