Richard Hughes, Joyful Sorrow, 2008

Richard Hughes

Joyful Sorrow, 2008

Multiple for Momart, resin, stamped with artist signature and Momart

Stamped with artist's signature and MOMART logo and year on the bottom

4 2/5 × 2 1/10 inches

"Joyful Sorrow" is MOMART's limited edition Christmas "card" gift, designed by British artist Richard Hughes. It is a standalone piece, but a string can be affixed to the back for it to be used as a Christmas tree ornament.

ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Richard Hughes (born 1974) is a British visual artist. He studies at the Staffordshire University and the Goldsmiths College, London.
Hughes’ sculptural practice is engaged in the counter-productive act of manufacturing decay and illusion, creating objects that evoke, through their weathered appearance, the aftermath of good times past. Far from simple ready-mades, Hughes’ works are laborious copies of discarded junk. They appear as residual artefacts that incarnate the point at which working class suburban culture enters into the mainstream, dragging along with it a slew of improper objects.
Richard Hughes has had numerous gallery and museum exhibitions including solo exhibitions at Anton Kern Gallery in New York, The Modern Institute and Sadie Coles HQ in London, Michael Benevento in Los Angeles, as well as the Tate Britain’s Sculpture Court as part of the Art Now series, London.
Richard Hughes lives and works in London.

ABOUT MOMART:
MOMART is a British company specialising in the storage, transportation, and installation of works of art. Today, the company is best known for two things: its annual artist Christmas Card, and a 2004 warehouse fire that destroyed irreplaceable art works including Tracey Emin's famous "Everyone I Have Ever Slept With. Momart's clients include the Royal Academy of Arts, Victoria & Albert Museum, National Gallery, Tate Modern, Tate Britain and Buckingham Palace. The tradition of the MOMART "Christmas card" (which would later morph into actual artist-designed work) goes back to 1984 when the first object – a festive card – was designed for the company by Bruce McLean. Since then Momart collaborated on this project with many of the top British and international artists. The complete series of Momart Christmas cards is now part of the permanent collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Tate. This work is by the artist Richard Hughes, titled Joyful Sorrow, it is stamped with artist signature and Momart. Very cool and collectible! Unnumbered, but known to have been issued in an edition of approx. 500.

Provenance:
Created by the artist for MOMART Inc., London; originally distributed by MOMART to its preferred clients