Standing Female Figure 1990

Curator: Before us stands "Standing Female Figure," a compelling work sculpted in 1990 by Manuel Neri. He worked primarily in plaster for this piece. Editor: My immediate reaction is how raw and vulnerable it feels. The rough texture of the plaster, the incomplete torso, it’s a figure exposed, almost fragile, in its stark whiteness. Curator: Neri’s approach here very much breaks from classical traditions. There’s a visible immediacy to his process; the marks of its making are everywhere. It feels honest in a way marble sculptures, for instance, often don’t. Editor: Precisely! It draws attention to the materiality of sculpture. The use of plaster feels like a deliberate choice to challenge conventional artistic hierarchies, where more durable materials like bronze were favored. It poses questions about labor too; about the artist's hand. Plaster allows directness. Curator: Yes, and look at the surface, the uneven layers almost like geological strata—a history inscribed upon her form. It certainly resonates with his wider interest in fragmented forms. Editor: That rawness gets to me. It invites us to see beyond idealized representations of the female form. What happens to the viewer then becomes deeply individual, I find. There is a disquieting effect from the fact that you are observing it. You can ask yourself whether she looks pained or beautiful... it's unresolved. Curator: Indeed, and considering the contemporary moment in which this was created, its commentary around form and presence adds a poignant depth to it. Editor: Looking at her "nakedness" makes me want to understand who had access to female subjects. She makes you think about power structures involved in how and why we’re seeing certain images of women throughout art history. Curator: A point very well made! I appreciate how our conversation, while anchored in material presence, opened pathways into richer discussions about representation, labor, and power dynamics, something inherent in encountering art itself. Editor: I agree. These pieces hold a history within themselves, the texture holding imprints that resonate so powerfully today. It makes this figure both modern and intensely rooted in art traditions, urging continuous conversations about art, life, and beyond.