REVIEW: In Plain Sight at Luxembourg + Co.
TEXT BY Tanya Mascarenhas
Bruce Mclean, Invisible Sculpture, 8 black and white vintage photographs mounted on board, 1969. Installation view of In Plain Sight, 2025, Luxembourg + Co. London. Photo: Damian Griffiths. Courtesy of Luxembourg + Co.
In Plain Sight at Luxembourg + Co., London presents a series of objects and sculptures spanning the last century that speak to the philosophical, and the unseen. What does it mean to be unseen? It’s a quiet presence that surfaces when you least expect it, lurking in the shadows. The exhibition thrives on surrealism through a wholly conceptual lens. Viewers are encouraged to subjectively question what makes a good disguise, or a bad one, the desire to be seen transcending the everyday as they become spectators for a scene that never actually materialises. Throughout the exhibition, materials are manifested in a way that is non-functional, yet play on deeper themes such as contradiction, paradox and the unresolved that remain pivotal to the standpoint of contemporary art.
Man Ray, L’Enigme d’Isidore Ducasse, Sewing machine wrapped in cloth tied with string,1920/1971. Image taken by authour. All rights reserved to Luxembourg + Co. London.
Man Ray’s L’Enigme d’Isidore Ducasse (1971) presents an object wrapped in cloth, with a delicate thread keeping what exists beneath firmly under wraps. The work is underscored by a famous phrase from Ducasse: ‘As beautiful as the chance meeting, on a dissecting table, of a sewing machine and an umbrella’. This chance meeting becomes the sacred moment by which the object is encountered for the very first time by a viewer. It stands alone on a plinth, reminiscent of an altarpiece, sacred yet spiritually clandestine.
Piero Manzoni, Base magica - Scultura vivente, Wood, felt and metal, 1961 and Gino De Dominicis, Statua, Straw, slippers, parallelepiped,1979. Installation view of In Plain Sight, 2025, Luxembourg + Co. London. Photo: Damian Griffiths. Courtesy of Luxembourg + Co.
The spatial allure of the objects becomes stronger as you move around the exhibition space, the viewer’s weight growing in significance. This is perhaps most strongly reflected in Piero Manzoni’s Base magica - Scultura vivente (Magic Base - Living Sculpture) (1961). As a magic base with footprints on its surface, the work becomes a material support where anyone can be considered a living sculpture. The idea of a living, moving, sculpture is a collective force in the exhibition room, where all objects hold a life that is unseen from the outside. Maurizio Cattelan’s (Police report of stolen invisible artwork) (1991) provides us with some context to the missing objects, referring to a time when the artist reported the theft of an invisible artwork from his car. The inclusion of the report within the exhibition adds so many layers, as a glimpse into the artist’s bold claims within their own world.
Installation view of In Plain Sight, 2025, Luxembourg + Co. London. Photo: Damian Griffiths. Courtesy of Luxembourg + Co.
Gino de Dominici, Statua (1979) shows a plinth with homely slippers and a hat suspended by a thin thread above, casting a shadow on the wall. We are able to imagine a figure occupying the space, their presence being felt through these objects that construct a subjective identity. There is a brush with magic through the act of vanishing, leaving behind remains such as a comical pair of slippers and a Magritte-esque hat. It becomes our sole responsibility to retrieve this hidden figure from the abyss. The journey of uncovering becomes a challenging yet rewarding one, as we seek out what it means to be invisible. Can we become truly (un)seen? The answer remains out of sight.