Alan Reynolds
dal 8/8/2003 al 21/9/2003
Segnalato da
8/8/2003
Alan Reynolds
Kettle's Yard, Cambridge
This exhibition traces the progress of Alan Reynolds' work from the early landscapes, through stages of abstraction, to the tonal modular drawings and constructed white reliefs of the last thirty years.
Kettle's Yard is presenting the first public gallery exhibition in this
country of the paintings, drawings and reliefs of Alan Reynolds. It marks
the 50th anniversary of him leaving the Royal College of Art and spans an
even longer period.
On the face of it Alan Reynolds' career is of two unequal halves, the
landscape painter of the 1950s, rooted and cherished in England, and the
constructive artist of the last thirty and more years inspired by and fêted
in Europe.
A quest for structure and equilibrium has always been at the heart of
Reynolds' work. His engagement with landscape, from his native Suffolk to
the hop gardens and orchards of his adoptive Kent, was inspired in part by
Constable and Samuel Palmer but then by Paul Klee and increasingly by
Mondrian. Eventually, depiction was firmly set aside in favour of the
abstract and concrete.
This exhibition traces the progress of Alan Reynolds' work from the early
landscapes, through stages of abstraction, to the tonal modular drawings
and constructed white reliefs of the last thirty years. In these not only
the times of day and season, but curves and colour give way to the
interplay of horizontal and vertical - form and space - daylight and
shadow - the rational and the intuitive. Apparently geometric, they derive
from a simple fascination with number - '4 - 5 - 8 - I can get quite high
on that!'
Born in 1926 in Newmarket, Alan Reynolds saw front line infantry service in
the war. Posted to Hanover after the war he was faced with the impact of
German expressionist and constructive art while other British artists were
looking only to France. He quickly rose to fame and was described by Bryan
Robertson as 'the golden boy of post neo-romanticism in England.' His
practice as an artist has been coupled with a distinguished teaching career
at the Central School of Arts and Crafts and St Martin's.
Organised by Kettle's Yard, the exhibition will be accompanied by a 48 page
illustrated catalogue with an introduction by Michael Harrison and writings
by the artist and Suzanne Pfleger.
Image: Alan Reynolds, Modular Study 184, 2002
Kettle's Yard, Castle Street, Cambridge CB3 0AQ
tel +44 (0)1223 352124