Cadogan is delighted to announce "The Great Escape," our first solo exhibition with Mexico City-based artist, Adeline de Monseignat. Known for imbuing inanimate materials with a sense of inner life, the artist works with stone, metal, and organic forms. Her practice draws on mythology and symbolism to explore cycles of birth, transformation, and rebirth.
In this exhibition, oversized caterpillar-like sculptures carved in onyx and bronze evoke the restless energy of toddlerhood. Inspired by psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott’s ‘True Self’ and playfully referencing Steve McQueen’s The Great Escape, the works embody a child’s instinctive drive toward freedom, movement, and change.
The large sculptural pieces capture the shifting moods of early play, whilst the Gusanando series of smaller worm-like forms explores the tension between independence and maternal grounding. Bronze blobs and wall-mounted slabworks echo moments of growth and shedding, highlighting the vulnerability and resilience that define early life.
Through these tactile, sinuous forms, The Great Escape celebrates intuitive play and the ongoing metamorphosis of childhood.
