Hard Goods

In 'Hard Goods', Eli Ping’s solo debut in the UK, the artist reimagines the history of sculpture with a new body of work that pushes the limits of materiality and form. These new works draw inspiration from his earlier Monocarp series, in which he transforms canvas into eerie, textured sculptures through a process of resin application and sandblasting, resulting in works that appear to defy gravity — hovering just above the ground while simultaneously slicing through the air, reaching towards the ceiling in a strikingly dynamic display of motion and stillness.

The exhibition presents new floor-standing bronze works that bypass the traditional mould-making and lost wax processes used for millennia in bronze casting. Instead, Ping slashes, carves, and twists expanses of foam fabric, creating unique forms that serve as a repository for molten bronze in a process of direct burnout. The resulting freestanding sculptures render silhouettes of calligraphic contours that are at once alluring and threatening.

Drawing inspiration from the bold materiality of John Chamberlain, the lyrical abstraction of Sam Gilliam, and the elemental purity of modernists like Brancusi and Giacometti, Eli Ping weaves a visual language that is at once profoundly contemporary and timeless. At the core of his work lies a meditative exploration of light, shadow, and texture — an approach that transcends the visual to tap into the philosophical and spiritual. His compositions are guided by a reverence for balance and harmony, achieved through his meticulous attention to proportion and his fervent investigation of how materials speak to one another.