Martin Boyce Drawn from Depths, 2025
300 x 15 x 7 cm (beam)
275 x 12 x 7 cm each (leg)
90 x 90 x 90 cm (glass body)
The work consists of a large-scale chandelier, composed of 90 hand-blown pink glass modules, suspended from a black steel structure. The shape of the chandelier with its tentacle-like metal chains may evoke associations with sea creatures, while the tapered structure is reminiscent of spider legs. The juxtaposition of fragile, delicately hued glass and industrial steel also creates a sense of misplacement, as if the chandelier is presented in a state of construction or renovation.
The form of the chandelier is inspired by a 1960s design by Carlo Scarpa, while the metal structure recalls Marcel Duchamp’s famous Bottle Rack (1914). The glass modules – produced by the Centre International de Recherche sur le Verre et les Arts Plastiques (CIRVA) in Marseille – borrow a component shape from the Concrete Trees by Jan and Joël Martel, created for the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris. These forms have been a recurring source in Boyce’s formal vocabulary since 2005.