Sarah Lucas - Plaza commission at the New Museum
Published on 08/26/2026 at 16:11 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Sarah Lucas is at the New Museum in New York with a new public sculpture commission. The museum says Plaza: Sarah Lucas - VENUS VICTORIA opened on May 12, 2026 and remains on view.
What the New Museum installed
The New Museum describes VENUS VICTORIA as a sculpture commission that celebrates women claiming space in public life. The page also identifies Lucas as the first recipient of the William “Beau” Wrigley Jr. Foundation Sculpture Award New Museum exhibition page.
The same entry places the opening on May 12, 2026 and lists the project under the museum's Plaza program. That gives the work a strong institutional frame, not just a site-specific decorative role.
Why this matters now
Lucas has spent four decades turning ordinary objects into charged sculpture, photography, and installation. Tate Britain describes her practice as one that uses ordinary materials to test sex, class, and gender across sculpture, installation, and photography Tate Britain exhibition page.
That context matters because VENUS VICTORIA sits squarely inside the body-first, readymade-driven language that has defined her since the 1990s. The New Museum notes earlier landmarks such as Penis Nailed to a Board, The Whole Joke, and the 2015 Venice presentation I SCREAM DADDIO.
More news and background on Sarah Lucas
Track exhibitions, commissions, collections, and market coverage around Sarah Lucas in one place.
How Sarah Lucas works
Lucas works across sculpture, photography, and installation. Her materials are often deliberately blunt: furniture, tights, cigarettes, toilets, tabloids, and other ready-mades that carry social and bodily associations.
The New Museum biography says the body is her prevailing subject. That makes the plaza commission feel continuous with her wider practice rather than a one-off civic gesture.
Where the work stands now
Sarah Lucas currently has Plaza: Sarah Lucas - VENUS VICTORIA on view at the New Museum in New York.
Key facts on Sarah Lucas
- Artist: Sarah Lucas
- Medium / Genre: Sculpture, photography, installation
- Born: 1962, London, England
- Place(s) of practice: London
- Active since: 1990s
- Key work groups: Penis Nailed to a Board, The Whole Joke, Au Naturel
- Current/last exhibition: Plaza: Sarah Lucas - VENUS VICTORIA - New Museum, New York - opened May 12, 2026
- Major collections: Tate (London), MoMA (New York)
- Awards: William “Beau” Wrigley Jr. Foundation Sculpture Award, 2026
- Next date: currently no announced date in the 30-day window
Frequently asked questions about Sarah Lucas
Where is Sarah Lucas currently on view?
At the New Museum in New York, where Plaza: Sarah Lucas - VENUS VICTORIA opened on May 12, 2026 and is listed as ongoing.
What is the Sarah Lucas commission at the New Museum?
The museum describes it as a new sculpture commission titled VENUS VICTORIA, installed as part of the Plaza program.
Which collections hold Sarah Lucas work?
Tate in London and MoMA in New York both list Lucas in their public artist pages or collection context.
This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.
