Sure enough, sometimes, more than the artwork itself, what calls our attention is what it's made of: the material used.

Contemporary artworks use a vast variety of materials. The choice of the things to use it's often related to the subject the artist wants to develop.

Décor, by Adel Abdessemed (2011-2012)

Punta della Dogana - Venice

Materials: barbed-wire

For example, Adel Abdessemed (1971, Algeria) used knived-shaped barbed wire for the four figures of Christ he did between 2011 and 2012. The artist chose that particular wire because it's the one used  in Guantanamo's detention camps.

Décor, by Adel Abdessemed (2011-2012)

Punta della Dogana - Venice

Materials: barbed-wire.

Jesus-Christ, one of the most important figures of Christianity, source of love and faith, becomes, in the artist's interpretation, a symbol of danger.

Décor, by Adel Abdessemed (2011-2012)

Punta della Dogana - Venice

Materials: barbed-wire (detail).

In other cases, the material used in a work of art loses it's original structure to become something completely new.

General view of the exhibition - Richard Hughes (2013).

Anton Kern Gallery - New York

Materials: steel, resin stone, paint and fiber-glass.

It's what happens with these 2-mts-tall sculptures by British artists Richard Hughes (1974, Birmingham). His aesthetic shapes resemble the fragile legs of certain insects.

Pedestrian (Skinny C), by Richard Hughes (2013).

Anton Kern Gallery - New York

Materials: steel, resin stone, paint and fiber-glass / Measures: 200 cm x 350 cm

Pedestrian (Frankie Dubz), by Richard Hughes (2013) - Detail

Anton Kern Gallery - New York

Materials: steel, resin stone, paint and fiber-glass. 

Nicola Costantino has compressed and embedded a series of real-size newborns. She made silicone copies by manipulating the corpses of various animals.

Friso de nonatos, by Nicola Costantino (2008)

Materials: silicone - MNBA

It was her way of showing the death industry in which our alimentation is based. She chose to openly show the public the packing of newborns for export, a process most consumers prefer to ignore.

Keep reading... Prima Materia (Catalog of the exhibition), by N. Petresin-Bachelez. N., Pinault Collection, May 2013, Venice, Italy.