The Royal Institution, London
Tuesday 29 September 2026, 6:30 - 7:30pm
A conversation with Nicole Eisenman and Mark Godfrey at the Royal Institute to celebrate the sculpture ‘Stack’ at the Royal Academy of Arts
Join us for a conversation with artist Nicole Eisenman and curator Mark Godfrey at the Royal Institute to celebrate her monumental new sculpture ‘Stack’ at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.
Standing over eight meters tall, ‘Stack’ is emblematic of the artist’s expansive approach to sculpture. This totem of figures and objects is a combination of the things that nourish Eisenman’s practice, offering the viewer an abstracted self-portrait comprised of five main forms.
At the bottom, Eisenman depicts a Birkenstock-wearing artist supporting the tremendous weight of an impossibly balanced stack of people and things, which are also reminiscent of ‘The Town Musicians of Bremen,’ a well-known German fairy tale. Poised to lumber forward, the artist’s progress is both implied and undermined, the figure perpetually holding out an empty glass in anticipation of wine. Balanced atop the wine barrel it carries is a potato, symbolizing the food that sustains her, while resting above it is Eisenman’s essential companion and feline muse, Edie, rendered here with an auburn coat of fur that is the result of a carefully distressed patina.
At the top is a model of the artist Phyllida Barlow (1944 – 2023), who sits with a quiet knowing smile and holds a vase of flowers on her head. Barlow is a symbol for the art that nourishes and inspires Eisenman’s own work, particularly her enquiry into sculptural practices.
Please note that this event will take place at the Royal Institute in London, with seats being allocated on a first come, first basis.
Tickets are free but must be booked in advance.