Lynn Chadwick, Hypercycle
Curated by Matthieu Poirier, presented by Perrotin and the Centre des monuments nationaux
Born in 1914 in London, died in 2003 in Stroud
Variable dimensions
Bronze
This two-site exhibition (Perrotin Marais and Centre des monuments nationaux - Hôtel de Sully) presents Lynn Chadwick's beginnings and launches a series of exhibitions curated by Matthieu Poirier (in 2025, New York will host his mature works and Asia, in 2026, his late works). Among the 60 works from 1947 to 1962 gathered here are his first mobiles, angular figures, and enigmatic creatures. Hybridizing modernist architecture with the naturalism of Charles Darwin, these strange sculptures quickly won recognition, including the Grand Prix International de Sculpture at the Venice Biennale in 1956, and a place in some 150 public collections. This is his first institutional exhibition in France since the Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris in 1957.
Audioguide
Click here to listen to our audioguide and learn more about Lynn Chadwick's project.
Matthieu Poirier
About the curator
Matthieu Poirier, Dr. Pr. (1976) is an art historian. A specialist in abstract art, he holds a doctorate from the University of Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV) where he also qualified to be a Senior Lecturer.
Poirier is a former visiting scholar at the German Center for the History of Art; he has taught at the University of Paris - Sorbonne and has been Professor of modern art history at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris-Cergy and at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Paris.
An author and editor-in-chief of numerous publications, he has curated many exhibitions, such as ‘Lucia Koch’, ‘Suspension. A History of Abstract Hanging Sculpture. 1918-2018’, ‘Artur Lescher’, ‘Carlos Cruz-Diez’ (Palais d’Iéna), ‘Dynamo. A Century of Light and Movement in Art. 1913-2013’ (Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais), ‘Hans Hartung’ (Perrotin New-York), ‘Soto. A Retrospective’ (Musée Soulages), ‘Spectres’ (Roesler Hotel, São Paulo), and ‘Sous le motif’ (Collection d’Art Société Générale, Paris-La Défense).
He has been the scientific advisor for exhibitions at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Museo Reina Sofia, Louisiana Museum, Tate Modern, Palais de Tokyo and Palazzo del Monte di Pièta in Padua. He is a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) and the International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art (IKT).
Portrait by Marion Berrin for Art Basel.