In spite of his wide exposure, both at home and abroad, this was the first major show of Richard Deacon’s work to be held in England. Seventeen pieces, from the intimate works in his “Art for Other People” series, 1982–88, to the huge Like a Snail (B), 1987, filled both floors of the gallery. The latter piece sat just inside the doors to the Whitechapel Art Gallery, its wide, open structure almost blocking one’s access to the space. Eleven laminated wooden ribs enclosing a roughly circular space ballooned up to the ceiling. They were kept in position only by being fastened to spacing rings at