A flutter of wings
From Minimalism to Motion: Wodecki in the Spotlight at Galry
“A FLUTTER OF WINGS” TO DISCOVER AT GALRY
From January 27 to March 28, 2026, GALRY presents an exhibition by contemporary sculptor Lionel Wodecki. The artist unveils a series of works in a range of materials and formats, with bronze—the signature medium of his practice—taking center stage. Through clean lines, the tension of gesture, and captured moments, Wodecki continues his exploration of suspended movement and the poetry of the living.
SIMPLICITY AS A SIGNATURE, MOVEMENT AS AN OBSESSION
A long-time draughtsman and professionally trained designer, Lionel Wodecki has developed a sculptural language that is instantly recognizable: a taut line, a pared-down form, and above all, the ability to capture a moment—a minute detail—and turn it into an almost timeless presence. In his works, the living is never frozen; on the contrary, it seems held back, suspended in a fragile balance, somewhere between take-off and time standing still.
BIRDS AS METAPHOR: CAPTURING THE EPHEMERAL
While the artist sculpts animals, birds most often take center stage: figures charged with tension, arrested impulses, suggested wingbeats. The exhibition “A Flutter of Wings” explores this very boundary between power and delicacy, where the animal gesture becomes almost calligraphic.
“THE DANCING BIRD”: FROM ANIMAL MOTIF TO HUMAN GESTURE
Featured on the exhibition poster, “The Dancing Bird,” the artist’s latest work, marks a subtle shift in Lionel Wodecki’s practice. While the subject remains animal, the sculpture almost suggests a dancer’s body: a tiny point of support, a torso held in tension, an extension that reads like an arm or an arabesque. The bird thus becomes a pretext for something beyond a simple representation of the living—it turns into figure, rhythm, movement, as if the artist were bringing animal sculpture into a more abstract, human territory. In bronze, Wodecki achieves this paradox: granting weight a choreographic lightness, and giving matter itself the sensation of flight.
AN AWARD-WINNING ARTIST, A RISING CAREER
This first solo exhibition at GALRY comes at a particularly significant moment: Lionel Wodecki was recently honored at the Salon National des Beaux-Arts (SNBA), where he received the Rumsey Prize in the Sculpture section for L’Autour des palombes. This distinction confirms the singularity of his world, at the crossroads of naturalist poetry and a demanding contemporary sculptural practice.
