<strong>LR Vandy</strong>, <em>Pomp & Circumstance</em> (detail), 2019.
Wood and metal, 180 x 60 x 35 cm.<strong>LR Vandy</strong>, <em>These Women, Nos. 2, 9, 12</em>, 2019. Bronze, ca. 21 x 10 x 10 cm each. Ed. of 20.<strong>LR Vandy</strong>, <em>Red Dart</em> (detail), 2019. Metal and plastic, 40 x 16 x 15 cm.

LR Vandy

LR Vandy.
Photo: © Caz Hildebrand, 2018.
LR Vandy, Top Brass (detail), 2019. Wood and metal,
100 x 22 x 15 cm.
Sought-after artist LR Vandy brings together both found and made objects in her sculptures in order to create new meaning. In her practice, she continually explores these new materials and unpacks our knotted histories of trade and power. Vandy made her sell-out debut with October Gallery at 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London in 2018, followed by her highly anticipated first solo show, Hidden, at the Gallery in June 2019, and her solo show Twist in April 2024.

In her Hull series, Vandy transforms model boat hulls into ‘masks’, animating them with various materials, including fishing floats, porcupine quills and acupuncture needles. The hulls allude to the transportation of migrants as commodities. As masks they present a transformation of identity, drawing upon the tradition of talismans, charms and amulets. Her work Railway also closely examines transport systems and their hidden human costs. Vandy threads old model railway tracks across burnt wood of different depths, contained by brass borders.

In her sculptures, Vandy continues address the under-representation of the sculpted abstract female form. Her sculpture series These Women, consists of twenty-one individual, dynamic sculptures, each one a different variation of bold geometric elements. A large Jesmonite sculpture from the series Superhero Cog-Woman, acting as a tribute to women throughout time, was selected to be shown at Frieze Sculpture 2019, The Regents Park, London, UK. As a continuation of this theme, Dynamo Woman, a spiralling metal sculpture, which alludes to the ancient Greek queen Dynamis (‘Powerful one”) is a symbolic feminine vessel of industry, energy, movement and agility.

In 2023 for the third iteration of the International Slavery Museum’s MLK Pop Up series, Vandy was commissioned by National Museums Liverpool to created Dancing in Time: The Ties That Bind Us, a 5-meter-high sculpture on the Canning Dock in Liverpool. Inspired by her studio relocation next to the Ropery at Chatham Historic Dock Yard, Vandy has explored the properties of rope, as well as its symbolic and historical importance. Rope was used in ancient architectural construction, essential to the maritime industry, to the building of Empire, Colonialism and Slavery. By manipulating, sewing and binding this seemingly simple material Vandy relates yet subverts these historical associations of rope. The end form speaks to the origins of dance in hunting rituals, carnival masquerades and spirit dancers of the African diaspora. 2024 showcased LR Vandy’s second solo exhibition at October Gallery, Twist, which featured her new visceral rope sculptures, photographic prints and new additions to her signature Hull series, which explores the colonial significance of indigo.

Notably the artist has exhibited at Get Up, Stand Up Now at Somerset House and Frieze Sculpture in 2019. Over the last five years, Vandy has exhibited frequently at 1:54 Contemporary Art Fair, inLondon and New York. Vandy is represented in many private collections and the renowned public collection of the British Museum and National Museums Liverpool.

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HYUNDAI COMMISSION. EL ANATSUI: BEHIND THE RED MOON FOR TATE MODERN’S TURBINE HALL.
Dancing in Time: The Ties That Bind Us, Installation View.
Photo © Pete Carr
Dancing in Time: The Ties That Bind Us - Third iteration of the International Slavery Museum’s MLK Pop Up series, commissioned by National Museums Liverpool
6 Apr 2023 - 17 Sep 2023,
National Museums Liverpool, Liverpool
LR Vandy's monumental public sculpture Dancing in Time: The Ties That Bind Us was part of the International Slavery Museums’ series of activations to the dry dock in Liverpool’s Waterfront. 

The commissioned public installation stood at 5-meters-high, inspired by Vandy's studio relocation next to the Ropery at Chatham Historic Dock Yard. Vandy explored the properties of rope in this work, as well as its symbolic and historical importance. Rope was used in ancient architectural construction, essential to the maritime industry, to the building of Empire, Colonialism and Slavery. By manipulating, sewing and binding this seemingly simple material Vandy relates yet subverts these historical associations of rope. The end form speaks to the origins of dance in hunting rituals, carnival masquerades and spirit dancers of the African diaspora.

Read more about the work on National Museums Liverpool web site.
 

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LR Vandy

Born in 1958, Coventry, UK. Lives and works in London, UK.

BA Graphic Design and Printmaking, Camberwell College of Arts, London, UK
MA Furniture Design, Royal College of Art, London, UK
Solo Exhibitions
2024   LR Vandy: Twist, October Gallery, London, UK
2019   LR Vandy: Hidden, October Gallery, London, UK
Group Exhibitions
2023   1-54 Contemporary African art Fair, Somersethouse, with October Gallery, London, UK
Transvangarde: Pushing Boundaries, October Gallery, London, UK
2022   Nomadic Resonance, October Gallery, London, UK
1-54 Contemporary African art Fair, Somersethouse, with October Gallery, London, UK
Arms Around the Child, Christie's Auction, London, UK
Sotheby's Modern and Contemporary Art Auction and Exhibition, London, UK
2021   Kensington and Chelsea Art Week, London, UK
1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, Somerset House, with October Gallery, London, UK
Yorkshire Sculpture Park Artist's Residency, Wakefield, UK
Black, Bold & British, Christie's, London, UK
Body and Place, CoLab Drawing Residency by Clare Mander, Owlpen Manor, Dursley, UK
2020   Atmospheres; Artists of the Transvangarde, October Gallery, London, UK
1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, New York, Online with October Gallery, London, UK 
2019    1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, New York, USA with October Gallery, London, UK
Frieze Sculpture 2019, Regents Park, London with October Gallery, London, UK
Abu Dhabi Art, Abu Dhabi, UAE, with October Gallery, London, UK
Life Through Extraordinary Mirrors, October Gallery, London, UK
Get Up, Stand Up Now, Somerset House, London, UK
AKAA: Also Known as Africa, Contemporary art and design fair, Paris, France, with October Gallery, London, UK
Dream No Small Dream: Celebrating 40 Years of the Transvangarde, October Gallery, London, UK
2018   1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London, UK with October Gallery, London, UK
2013   Bayjoo and Vandy, Londonewcastle Project Space, London, UK
Public Commissions
2023   Dancing in Time: The Ties That Bind Us, National Museums Liverpool, International Slavery Museum, Canning Dock, Liverpool, UK
Public Collections
The British Museum, London, UK
National Museums Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

OCTOBER GALLERY ARTISTS