{"id":110406,"date":"2025-05-18T00:56:12","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T00:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/110406\/"},"modified":"2025-05-18T00:56:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T00:56:12","slug":"hanneke-beaumont-sculpting-the-universal-self","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/110406\/","title":{"rendered":"Hanneke Beaumont: Sculpting the Universal Self"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hanneke Beaumont: Sculpting the Universal Self
19th June, 2025 \u2013 25th July, 2025
Bowman Sculpture
6 Duke Street, St James\u2019s
London SW1Y 6BN<\/strong><\/p>\n

This summer, Bowman Sculpture in St James\u2019s will present Hanneke Beaumont:<\/a> Sculpting the Universal Self,<\/strong> a solo exhibition tracing more than three decades of work by the Dutch-born sculptor, whose introspective bronze and terracotta figures have quietly challenged traditional approaches to the human form.<\/p>\n

Opening to the public on 19 June and running through 25 July, the exhibition marks the premiere of Duality, a new monumental sculpture arriving directly from the artist\u2019s studio in Pietrasanta, Italy. The piece is the latest expression of Beaumont\u2019s sustained exploration of ambiguity, interiority and human presence.<\/p>\n

\"\"Hanneke Beaumont
Image courtesy of Bowman Sculpture<\/p>\n

Beaumont\u2019s sculptures are not portraits in the usual sense. Cast in elemental materials\u2014bronze, terracotta, cast iron\u2014they depict androgynous figures that seem at once grounded and uncertain. They carry weight, yet appear caught in thought. With no clear age, gender or origin, they ask viewers to look beyond identity and into shared emotional terrain.<\/p>\n

\u201cI represent the human being, regardless of where they are from, who they are or what they do,\u201d Beaumont has said. \u201cI believe some feelings are universal to mankind and wish to express these.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a time when questions of identity and belonging are particularly resonant, Beaumont\u2019s work offers stillness rather than assertion. Duality, the centrepiece of the show, reflects this balance\u2014between strength and vulnerability, solitude and connection.<\/p>\n

The exhibition brings together works from across Beaumont\u2019s career, including several recent sculptures and rare final casts of earlier pieces, such as Bronze 71 (2005, edition 8\/8) and Bronze 45 (1998, edition 8\/8). Seen together, they offer a view into an artist\u2019s long, deliberate engagement with the complexities of being human.<\/p>\n

\"HannekeMica Bowman
Courtesy of photographer James D. Kelly<\/p>\n

Mica Bowman, Director of Bowman Sculpture<\/strong>, comments:\u00a0\u201cHanneke\u2019s sculptures refuse to tell us who or what we\u2019re looking at\u2014and that\u2019s their power. In a world often obsessed with definition, her figures invite us to pause, feel, and connect without needing to categorise. They offer a rare space of reflection, empathy, and shared experience. Hanneke\u2019s sculptures offer a vital perspective in our current cultural moment. They resist the urge to define or categorise and instead present the human being as a shared idea\u2014fluid, imperfect, and innately connected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beaumont, who trained in Belgium and the Netherlands, began exhibiting with Bowman Sculpture in the early 1990s. The London gallery has since played a central role in presenting her work internationally, including the two-part exhibition Connected and Disconnected at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in the United States.<\/p>\n

See also<\/p>\n

\"Echoes<\/a><\/p>\n

Among her most recognisable public commissions is Stepping Forward, permanently installed outside the European Council in Brussels\u2014a group of figures emblematic of quiet resolve and collective progress. Her work is also held in museum collections including The Baker Museum and Boca Raton Museum of Art in Florida, the Copelouzos Museum in Athens, and the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame, where No.130 (Observing) stands as a meditative presence at the museum\u2019s entrance.<\/p>\n

Beaumont\u2019s sculptures have appeared at major art fairs including TEFAF Maastricht, BRAFA, The Winter Show in New York, Frieze and Art Miami. Though exhibited widely, her work resists spectacle. These are figures that do not demand to be understood\u2014they invite one simply to pause, and recognise something quietly familiar.<\/p>\n

A full-colour catalogue accompanies the exhibition, featuring a foreword by Mica Bowman and further insights into Beaumont\u2019s practice.<\/p>\n

Hanneke Beaumont: Sculpting the Universal Self opens on the 19th of June, 2025 until the 25th July, 2025 at Bowman Sculpture<\/strong><\/p>\n

Learn more<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a92025 Bowman Sculpture<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Art Plugged is a contemporary platform inspired by a relationship with the broader arts communities. We provide our audience with curated insight into the world of art, from exhibitions to artist interviews and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hanneke Beaumont: Sculpting the Universal Self19th June, 2025 \u2013 25th July, 2025Bowman Sculpture6 Duke Street, St James\u2019sLondon SW1Y…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":110407,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[50086,748,393,4845,4884,50085,50084,257,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-110406","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-bowman-sculpture","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-exhibitions","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-hanneke-beaumont","14":"tag-hanneke-beaumont-sculpting-the-universal-self","15":"tag-london","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114526118613071837","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}