joseph scissorhands: Lynn Chadwick Subliminal Influences

Lynn Chadwick - Sitting Couple (C93), 1989

Happy New Year dear reader! I begin 2022 with a visit to an exhibition devoted to the works of sculptor Lynn Chadwick (1914-2003). An interesting premise for a show this, at Pangolin London, involving much speculation and conjecture as to the influences and origins of the geometrically faceted sculptural works of Lynn Chadwick. Some of the guess work seems to me to be a little dubious, but other claims to the influences of the origins of his work appear to be perfectly plausible. I have endeavoured to reproduce the photographs that the curators of this show are convinced were the inspirations behind the sculptures below. I've long admired Chadwick's blockheaded figures especially the seated male/female couples who possess a regal, conspiratorial air. The curators of this small retrospective surmise that the inspiration for these couples came from the Egyptian statues found at the British Museum, which is entirely plausible given Chadwick's fondness for that instiution, and those beautiful Assyrian carvings therein of lions rearing on the attack, or others in their death throes having been shot with arrows which apparently inspired his Animal and Beast series. There are also works thought to have been inspired by technology such as the winged flying suits, which just as easily have been inspired by classical myths such as that of Icarus, and unsurprisingly given Chadwick's background in architecture pieces based on pyramids, and skyscrapers. Others pieces look to be inspired by the entertainment of the age in which they were created such as film, music, the Teddy Boy subculture and fashion from the 1950s and 60s. In this respect there are similarities between Chadwick and Eduardo Paolozzi, another sculptor who took his references from aspects of popular culture and whose work was created in parallel. Chadwick was regarded as being the successor to the sculptural tradition laid down by the likes of Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore. His earlier works were spiky and full of tension, possibily reflecting the uncertainties of the post-war period. Chadwick, Paolozzi and others were invited to exhibit at the Venice Biennale in 1952, and won acclaim for their work. Critic Herbert Read commented that the spirit of this new generation of sculptors created a "geometry of fear", a term that Chadwick hated, but was perhaps fair given the sense of edginess of his sculptures at that time, and his overt use of geometric forms. Chadwick was again invited by the British Council to exhibit at the Venice Biennale in 1956, and caused a sensation when at the relatively young age of 41, he beat the critics favourite, one Alberto Giacometti, to win the coveted International Prize for Sculpture. This decision alienated many critics in the British art establishment who thought that Giacometti was more deserving. There may have been some bias in the critics thinking in that Chadwick did not go to art school, and had no formal training as a sculptor. In the 1960s Chadwick's work and reputation began to wane, being eclipsed by developments in art such as Minimalism and Pop. His work was regarded as having lost its edge. Despite the opinions of the critics Chadwick was bestowed a variety of prestigious titles in the art world. In 1995 Chadwick stopped creating work stating - "There are only so many things to say and only so many ways to say them and I've done that now." I enjoyed seeing these sculptures from all stages of Chadwick's career (especially those with a textural, tactile surface quality), before his work sadly fell out of fashion. Hopefully this little retrospective will go some way to having critics and the public looking at his output anew, and possibly to reviving and restoring his reputation.