Pace Gallery is presenting an exhibition of works by Paul Thek, the influential but often overlooked American artist known for his provocative sculptures and installations that blend the sacred and the profane. The show brings together pieces from different periods of his career, including his famous "Technological Reliquaries"—glass cases containing wax casts of body parts—alongside drawings and other works that explore themes of mortality, spirituality, and the human condition.
This exhibition matters because it reintroduces a key figure of postwar American art whose work anticipated many contemporary concerns, from the body's fragility to the intersection of technology and spirituality. Thek's influence can be seen in the work of numerous younger artists today, and Pace's decision to mount this show signals a renewed institutional interest in his legacy, potentially reshaping how art history understands the 1960s and 1970s.