The first major European retrospective of American sculptor Richard Hunt has opened at White Cube Bermondsey in London. Richard Hunt: Metamorphosis – A Retrospective, on view from April 25th to June 29th, 2025, celebrates over six decades of Hunt’s groundbreaking work with metal.
The exhibition traces Hunt’s evolution through more than 30 key sculptures, revealing a personal language shaped by modernism, mythology, and African American history. Early works such as Hero’s Head (1956) respond to pivotal moments in American civil rights, transforming scrap metal into a deeply moving portrait of Emmett Till. In pieces like Linear Peregrination (1962), Hunt’s fascination with Greek mythology materializes as dynamic “drawings-in-space,” combining open form and expressive line. Later sculptures, including Dogonese (1985), show Hunt’s engagement with African visual traditions, blending ritual forms with the fluid abstraction of modernist sculpture.
Installed in the courtyard, Steel Garden (2013) stands as a powerful symbol of resilience, connecting industrial history to natural growth. Meanwhile, Reaching Up (2022), a soaring bronze work, embodies Hunt’s enduring belief in aspiration and transformation. Throughout, the exhibition reveals an artist who reimagined the possibilities of metal, merging lived experience with formal innovation. Hunt’s legacy, rooted in strength, movement, and hope, feels more vital than ever.
RICHARD HUNT
Metamorphosis – A Retrospective at WHITE CUBE BERMONDSEY, 2025
Photography by OLLIE HAMMICK, courtesy of WHITE CUBE