Building on landmark exhibitions devoted to Mona Hatoum and Huma Bhabha, the Barbican extends its bold investigation of sculpture and artistic exchange with a major new exhibition uniting works by Lynda Benglis and Alberto Giacometti.

The third chapter in Encounters: Giacometti, the exhibition, on view from Thursday 12 February to Sunday 31 May 2026, marks the first occasion on which sculptures by the American contemporary artist and the seminal 20th-century European sculptor are presented together.

Shaped through Benglis’s own curatorial perspective, the exhibition brings together a body of previously unseen works alongside a personally selected group of Giacometti sculptures. Eschewing a traditional historical framework, it is presented as an intuitive dialogue across generations, materials and artistic directions.

Since the 1960s, Benglis has developed a sculptural language that defies easy classification. Her practice is distinguished by exuberant, fluid forms that move between the playful and the visceral, the organic and the abstract. Whether poured, cast or coiled, her works emphasise process, movement and tactility, often embracing sensuality and excess in ways that push against the conventions of Minimalism and post-war sculpture.

In contrast, Giacometti’s unmistakable elongated figures offer a pared-back yet emotionally charged approach to the human form. Emerging from the intellectual climate of post-war Europe and shaped by existential thought, his attenuated bodies appear at once vulnerable and resilient, stripped to their essence, yet rich in psychological intensity. Few artists have so decisively reshaped sculptural ideas of presence, isolation and endurance.

Seen together, the works of Benglis and Giacometti reveal shared concerns beneath their differing aesthetics: a belief in form as an emotional conduit, an ongoing negotiation between solidity and fragility.

With this latest instalment of Encounters, the Barbican reinforces its commitment to re-examining art history through unexpected pairings. The exhibition proposes sculpture as a dynamic, evolving language, shaped by dialogue rather than linear progression.

Giacometti’s sculptures are also on display at Tate Modern’s Tanks, highlighting his existential figures. The raw industrial space amplifies the psychological intensity and physicality of his work. It’s stunning! The exhibition runs until Sunday, 16 February 2025.