Male Sticker, 2005

epoxy resin, metal
28.0 x 16.0 x 8.0 cm
edition of 99
with a Certificate of Authenticity numbered and signed by the Artist

The second artwork produced for the Vancouver Art Gallery Artist Editions is anAdaptivesculpture by the renowned Austrian artist Franz West. West, who passed away in in July of 2012, was among Europes best-known contemporary sculptors, and his influence on a younger generation of artists is widely recognized.

The sculpture chosen by the artist for this edition is entitled Mail Sticker, 2005. It is part of a larger body of works calledAdaptivesor, in German,Pastcke. WestsAdaptivesare remarkable objects that are intended to be handled and worn by users. In a very direct way they link the object, the body and physical action. For West, works of art are not to be restricted to a purely visual encounter between the viewer and the object. Art objects whether they are furniture, sculpture or pictures are objects of usage whose purpose is functional and aesthetic.

On many occasions West described the interaction between the user and theAdaptiveas a fulfilling gesture that brings meaning to both; Without this active reception, the work would remain somehow wanting, unfulfilled, Without this loving gesture whose theatricality, boldness, or elegance you will modulate at your own discretion it would remain the equivalent of a lack. So go ahead and grab. No strangers eye is spying on you.

Franz Wests work has been exhibited worldwide since the mid-1970s. He contributed work to Documenta IX and X, the Venice Biennale and Skulptur Projekte Mnster. Solo exhibitions of his work have been held at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London; the Gagosian Gallery, New York and London; the Renaissance Society, Chicago; the Kunsthalle, Basel; Portikus, Frankfurt; MOCA, Los Angeles and the Rooseum, Malm.