Dropping the Ball
Camille Henrot
Dropping the Ball, by Camille Henrot, is part of a series of sculptural figures that embody the emotional state of the first day of the work week – Monday. The artist sees the dichotomy of this day: it is full of the challenges that face us, but also a day of creation and initiation. It is a day dedicated to the moon, a symbol of fertility and good luck, but also of mystery and unknown potential.
In Dropping the Ball, a cartoonish foot is perched atop a bronze orb that is polished and marked in order to appear as though it is spinning. The rounded leg arcs into a second, slimmer, limb that is supported by a crutch. The figure is elevated on an imposing yet irregular pedestal. Henrot plays with the ability of bodily gestures to convey a mood in the absence of language or facial expressions. Here, we see iconic symbols of power and support conflated and deflated with absurdity. Henrot’s hybrid figures—neither human, nor animal, nor plantlike in form—exist in a state of perpetual becoming. They always suggest the capacity to evolve, and seem to ease into their own metaphysical contradiction.
Camille Henrot (b. 1978 in Paris, lives and works in Berlin and New York) is recognized as one of the most influential voices in contemporary art today. In 2013, Henrot received widespread critical acclaim for Grosse Fatigue (2013), for which she was awarded the Silver Lion at the 55th Venice Biennale. In 2016, she was given the Carte Blanche at Palais de Tokyo in Paris, where she presented the major exhibition Days Are Dogs. Henrot has had numerous exhibitions worldwide, including at the New Museum, New York; Fondazione Memmo, Rome; Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Japan and National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Other upcoming solo exhibitions in 2022 include Kunstverein Salzburg, Austria, and the Munch Museum in Oslo.
Special thanks to Hauser & Wirth.