A sculpture by British artist Thomas J Price, which sparked debate about race and immigration in the Netherlands, has been exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London. Another version of the play Contained moments (2022), which shows a black woman standing nonchalantly with her hands in her pockets, was unveiled in early June on the forecourt of Rotterdam Centraal station.
The Rotterdam artwork was acquired at Art Basel last year by the non-profit foundation Droom en Daad (the philanthropic arm of the Dutch billionaire Van der Vorm family), who then donated the work to the city of Rotterdam. According The Guardian, the bronze work “caused a storm in this port city where 55% of the population is of migrant origin”. The article would also have been incorporated into the curriculum on the history of colonialism and slavery in the Netherlands (the Dutch Department of Education had not responded to a request for comment at the time of writing).
The Artist Stands Next to Moments Contained (2022)
Photo: Courtesy of the V&A
Contained moments stands in the courtyard of the V&A’s Exhibition Road, welcoming visitors as they enter the museum. Eight works by Price are scattered across the site as part of a free exhibition (until May 27, 2024), with a number of works on display in the Dorothy and Michael Hintze galleries; these included Lay It Down (2018), a life-size sculpted female head in polished bronze.
In a press briefing, Melanie Vandenbrouck, the V&A’s curator of sculpture from 1900 to the present, said the sculpture placements were “very deliberate”. A woman’s head is displayed among elaborate 18th-century depictions of Western women. Price commented that the work is about “beauty and recognition”.
“School girls are watching it…it’s about celebrating everyone rather than a select few,” added Vandenbrouck, who says Price’s works make the V&A think about the nature of its collections and “who is represented and who isn’t.” In a statement, Price adds that he grew up visiting the V&A and was “extremely aware of the absence of figurative works that I could identify with.”
Thomas J. Price Signals (2021)
Photo: Damian Griffiths
Standing in front of another work, Signals (2021), Vandenbrouck stated that “the price [work] really speaks to the material, thematic and compositional language of sculpture”. Signals shows a fit individual looking for a mobile connection (or maybe taking a selfie). There’s an “assumption of suspicion” with the figure, Price says. The work contrasts with the brutal sculpture of Vincenzo Foggini Samson and the Philistines (1749).
Indeed, Price is currently having a moment; his sculpture Give a hand (2021) also stands at the entrance to the newly refurbished National Portrait Gallery in London.
