Isabelle Albuquerque X Robert Therrien
at Robert Therrien Studio

Isabelle Albuquerque X Robert Therrien (installation view) (2024). Image courtesy of Isabelle Albuquerque and Robert Therrien Estate. Photo: Joshua White.

Isabelle Albuquerque X Robert Therrien—hosted at the late artist Robert Therrien’s (1947–2019) massive studio—is arguably the most exquisite curatorial presentation in Los Angeles right now. Organized by the artist’s estate and Nicodim with support from Jeffrey Deitch, the show is part of an ongoing series that pairs Therrien, known for his lifelong fascination with everyday objects presented in oversized proportions, with “noteworthy voices.”¹ Albuquerque is an unexpected visitor in Therrien’s realm, but the pairing allows us to develop new readings of the latter’s work. Their surreal sculptures, which explore both material and scale, span two floors (including the closets), engulfing visitors in the unconventional studio setting and demanding their attention as they navigate stairs without banisters and sudden drops in the exhibition’s floor. At times, Albuquerque’s unsettling sculptures are overpowered by Therrien’s, while also rivaling their oddness and uncanniness. 

Many of Albuquerque’s works presented here come from the Orgy for Ten People in One Body series (2019–22), in which her own body is multiplied to examine themes of power and submission. In 2 (2020–22), a headless and footless plaster body rests on her back at the edge of the mattress with legs in tabletop position, appearing ready to receive. Conversely, she holds a phallic, lit beeswax candle between her legs—ready for penetration, or to burn the whole thing down. The sculpture is in a bright, stark white room next to Therrien’s precariously placed stack of saucers—domestic objects in danger of collapse (No title [stacked plates, white], 2009). Nearby, the hands of the wax figure in Albuquerque’s 10 (2022) are tied with rope; she is sheltered directly underneath Therrien’s oversized table (No title [table leg], 2010). In 9 (2022) a bronze, headless body straddles a shaker broom, which pairs comically with Therrien’s witch hat made of carved Delrin plastic (No title [witch hat], 2011). Throughout the exhibition, Therrien’s works serve as Albuquerque’s host and framework. 

Albuquerque’s sculptures are extensions of herself, and Therrien’s former home and studio is an obvious extension of the late artist, who is said to have slept there in a twin-size bed much too small for his body. What is most successful is not our complete immersion in the sparse, dreamlike space, but how the unconventional pairing allows us to view Therrien’s work as a support for Albuquerque’s concerns of “desire, sexuality and embodiment.”² The pairing opens up Therrien’s oeuvre for a more critical reading we would not experience in an institutional setting (the Broad, for example). Here, we reread his works through a feminist lens, even if they were not originally intended as commentaries on domesticity, labor, and fragility. 

Isabelle Albuquerque X Robert Therrien runs from October 26–December 14, 2024 at Robert Therrien Studio (Downtown Los Angeles; address unlisted).

Tina Barouti, PhD is an art historian and curator from Los Angeles. She lectures in SAIC’s Art History, Theory, and Criticism department.

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