Colin Wiggins and Dr Jennifer Sliwka, Howard and Roberta Ahmanson Fellow in Art and Religion

This study day discussed the work of Michael Landy and his exhibition Michael Landy: Saints Alive, which ran between 23 May and 24 November 2013. A series of large-scale kinetic sculptures brought a contemporary twist to the lives of the saints. Saints are more often associated with traditional sacred art than with contemporary work, but Michael Landy, Rootstein Hopkins Associate Artist in residence at the National Gallery, was inspired to revisit the subject for his exhibition. Landy’s large-scale sculptures consist of fragments of National Gallery paintings cast in three dimensions and assembled with one of his artistic hallmarks – refuse. He has scoured car boot sales and flea markets accumulating old machinery, cogs and wheels to construct the works. Visitors were able to crank the works into life with a foot pedal mechanism.