Girl 1954

This is *Girl*, a sculpture by Reg Butler, and she’s right here at the Tate Modern in London. She’s standing there, caught in this funny in-between moment, pulling a shirt over her head, maybe? You can see her arms are up, and the fabric is all bunched around her face. I wonder what Butler was thinking, making her so vulnerable, so…awkward? The bronze has this rough, almost primal texture to it, and she's stuck on this skinny metal frame attached to a white marble plinth. It’s a strange combo, this really raw, earthy figure and this clean, modern base. I’m reminded of Rodin’s sculptures, but they are more fleshy. Butler’s girl is almost like an Giacometti sculpture, super elongated and thin. Maybe he wanted to capture a feeling, not just a body? It's like he's asking us to look closer, to really see the strange, beautiful, and sometimes uncomfortable reality of being human.