Worktable and Workbench

Worktable and Workbench is a large-format sculpture that beckons the viewer to contemplate a fantasised place of creation, the artist's studio. The five papier-mâché sculptures, embossed and with dripping colours, appear at first sight to be unconnected to each other. However, the two tables on which they lie link all the objects, which become parts of a single hybrid work.

Worktable and Workbench illustrates the mature period of West's sculptural work, which focuses on exploring the human body, the psyche and social behaviour with humble materials. This protean sculpture inspired by Expressionism alludes to post-war European abstract art, including works by Fautrier, Wols, Dubuffet and Giacometti.

A key piece in West's body of work, Worktable and Workbench is in the Pinault Collection. It was first exhibited at the "Sequence 1" show in 2007 at the Palazzo Grassi.