The Marian Goodman Gallery in Tribeca is currently hosting a new solo exhibition of works by British sculptor Tony Cragg. Running through October 24, 2026, the exhibition features a collection of sculptures crafted from bronze, wood, stone, and steel, marking the gallery’s seventeenth solo show with the artist.
Versus and the Impasse of Perception
The exhibition begins at the entrance steps with Versus (2018), a bronze sculpture standing nearly nine feet tall. When viewed head-on, the piece presents a dense, spherical arrangement of elliptical forms, but a shift in the viewer’s position reveals it is only two and a half feet deep. This discrepancy between the anticipated whole and the revealed side creates what is known as aporia, an impasse where the sculpture cannot be reconciled into a single, static form from any one perspective.
Did You Know? Tony Cragg was honored with the European Culture Prize on September 4, 2026, at the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, shortly before the opening of this exhibition.
Materiality in Corten Steel and Wood
In the gallery’s inner rooms, Cragg displays works such as Path (2026) and Recall (2025), which utilize Corten steel. These sculptures feature vertical, spinal-like cores that transition into complex, serpentine bands. The artist contrasts these open, skeletal forms with three works titled Stand, which are described as more closed and elemental masses set on plinths.
The exhibition also highlights Cragg’s long-standing technique of layering, notably in the large-scale wooden Stack (2026). Nearby, the bronze In No Time (2018) mimics the appearance of layered wood, creating a visual interplay between the two materials. Cragg has stated that he views sculpture as a non-utilitarian use of material that provides the freedom to produce new forms, ideas, and emotions.
While contemporaries like Anish Kapoor and Richard Serra focus on internal psychological experiences or outward phenomenological responses, Cragg continuously forces a synthesis between the viewer’s physical movement and the mind’s tendency to project human likeness onto abstract forms.
Explore figurative abstraction in the Symmetries series
The third floor of the gallery features the Symmetries series, where Cragg mirrored axial line drawings to create columns. Although the artist notes he was not attempting to represent the human figure, the resulting forms display anatomical characteristics that invite viewers to reconsider their assumptions about beauty and proportion. Other works, such as Masks (2023), carved from ancient bog oak, further abstract the human head by driving opposing profiles through one another.
Discover what materials feature in the exhibition
What materials are featured in this exhibition?
The exhibition showcases new sculptures created from bronze, wood, stone, and Corten steel. These materials are used to explore themes of materiality, flux, and the relationship between man and nature.
How does the artist approach the concept of the human figure?
Cragg does not explicitly attempt to represent the human figure, but his process of mirroring columns in the Symmetries series often leads to figurative results. He uses these forms to challenge viewer biases regarding beauty and to explore bodily ratios.
Why does the artist use Corten steel in his work?
The artist uses Corten steel because it is a durable material that allows for open-ended, radical sculptural forms. In works like Path, this material is used to evoke diverse identities, such as a fountain, a waterfall, or a road.
How do you perceive the relationship between the sculpture’s form and your own movement through the gallery space?