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17TH OCTOBER - 8TH NOVEMBER 2012
sims reed gallery The Economist Building 30 Bury Street London SW1Y 6AU Tel. +44 (0) 207 930 5111 Fax +44 (0) 207 930 1555 gallery@simsreed.com www.gallery.simsreed.com
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Foreword This exhibition of Gerald Laing’s prints and multiples is the most comprehensive show of his work to date. It is also the first time that all of his 1960’s Pop images will be shown alongside the entire body of prints he created when he returned to the Pop idiom between 2007 and 2011. After a brief flirtation with lithography in 1965, Laing quickly moved to screen-printing. The commercial nature of the process and the strong flat colours it produced made this the favoured medium of many Pop Artists. In 1968 Laing created editions of his now widely recognized pictures of bikini girls, astronauts, and dragsters. These were all inspired by clippings found in popular magazines and printed by Laing himself on a makeshift press, which he built in his loft on the Bowery. These lively, vibrant images embodied for him the boundless optimism of post-war America. It was also during this time that he created his now iconic image of ‘Brigitte Bardot’. All of the prints from this period are included in this exhibition. As his work evolved, Laing became more extreme in his distillation of form. He began to produce elegant, highly finished abstract sculptures and miniature versions of these were created as multiples – small, colourful, and wonderfully tactile objects. We are delighted to be able to include several of these in this exhibition along with works from the Witness Portfolio, his only pure abstract prints. In 1969 Laing moved back to Britain and produced very little graphic work for over three decades. However, in 2007, he returned, reinvigorated, to printmaking. From then until his death in November of last year, he created an exciting group of new prints, celebrating the colourful but often tragic celebrity culture of 21st Century Britain. His subjects include Kate Moss, Victoria Beckham, and most notably, Amy Winehouse. For Laing, these characters were today’s answer to the starlets of the past. As it had been in the 1960’s, screen-printing was his medium of choice. The first of his screenprints from this period was ‘The Kiss’, the now widely recognized image of Amy Winehouse and her tragic lover Blake Fielder-Civil. This would become one of four images of Winehouse, all derived from photographs of the singer found in the tabloid press. As with his work four decades earlier, Laing carefully reworks the source images, adding his own artist references, humor, and cynicism.
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Laing with Vincent motorcycle and Garrard sidecar, New York, 1966
We are very pleased to present the comprehensive exhibition of one of Britan’s most important and influential Pop Artists. We had the great pleasure of working with Laing for many years and had the privilege of publishing the catalogue raisonne of his prints in 2006. This exhibition catalogue should act as a sublimit to that volume, as it is the first time that all of his later graphic work has been fully catalogued and illustrated. Throughout the years that we worked with him, Laing was always a professional and distinguished colleague. But, above all, he was a dear friend. Always good humored and compassionate, he was full of erudite wit and sometimes disarming wisdom. We hope that this show will, in some small way, pay tribute to this important figure. Lyndsey Ingram
Sims Reed Gallery, London, 2012.
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G old Spin Lithograph printed in colour, 1965. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 20. Printed on japan paper by the Tamarind Press, Los Angeles. Published by the Tamarind Press, Los Angeles. (Ingram & Halliwell 1) 76.5 x 57 cm
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Indenty Aluminium with yellow and red lacquer attached to chrome-covered brass support, 1966. Mounted on polished white marble base. Scratch signed and numbered from the edition of 25 on base. (Ingram & Halliwell 54) 20.5 x 58 cm
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Print Hinge chrome covered brass with orange and purple acrylic on tooled aluminium, 1965. Scratch signed and numbered from the edition of 46 on verso of vertical piece. Title, date, place and additional limitation inscribed on verso of verticle piece. (Ingram & Halliwell 50) 42.3 x 8 cm
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First Skydiver Screenprint in colours, 1968. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 75. Printed on smooth white paper by the artist. Published by the artist with his blindstamp. (Ingram & Halliwell 11) 89 x 58.5 cm
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Second Skydiver Screenprint in colours, 1968. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 75. Printed on smooth white paper by the artist. Published by the artist with his blindstamp. (Ingram & Halliwell 12) 89 x 58.5 cm
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T hird Skydiver Screenprint in colours, 1968. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 75. Printed on smooth white paper by the artist. Published by the artist with his blindstamp. (Ingram & Halliwell 13) 89 x 58.5 cm
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Pendulum Screenprint in colours, 1968. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 75. Printed on smooth white paper by the artist. Published by the artist with his blindstamp. (Ingram & Halliwell 14) 89 x 58.5 cm
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Pennon Screenprint in colours, 1968. Signed in pencil. and numbered from the edition of 75. Printed on smooth white paper by the artist. Published by the artist with his blindstamp. (Ingram & Halliwell 15) 89 x 58.5 cm
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Plunger Screenprint in colours, 1968. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 75. Printed on smooth white paper by the artist. Published by the artist with his blindstamp. (Ingram & Halliwell 16) 89 x 58.5 cm
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Deceleration I Screenprint in colours, 1968. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 150. Printed on smooth white paper by the artist. Published by the artist with his blindstamp. (Ingram & Halliwell 20) 58.5 x 89 cm
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Deceleration II Screenprint in colours, 1968. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 150. Printed on smooth white paper by the artist. Published by the artist with his blindstamp. (Ingram & Halliwell 21) 89 x 58.5 cm
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AAD Screenprint in colours, 1968. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 150. Printed on smooth white paper by the artist. Published by the artist with his blindstamp. (Ingram & Halliwell 18) 89 x 58.5 cm
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C T Strokers Screenprint in colours, 1968. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 150. Printed on smooth white paper by the artist. Published by the artist with his blindstamp. (Ingram & Halliwell 19) 89 x 58.5 cm
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Swamp Rat V Screenprint in colours, 1968. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 150. Printed on smooth white paper by the artist. Published by the artist with his blindstamp. (Ingram & Halliwell 17) 89 x 58.5 cm
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Screen Screenprint in colours with diecut Mylar, 1968. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 10 in Roman Numerals. A proof aside from the edition of 75. Printed on smooth white paper by the artist. Published by the artist with his blindstamp. (Ingram & Halliwell 33) 58.5 x 73.5 cm
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C heuelere A ssigne Screenprint in colours with diecut Mylar, 1968. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 75. Printed on smooth white paper by the artist. Published by the artist with his blindstamp. (Ingram & Halliwell 30) 58.5 x 73.5 cm
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T wo T unnels Screenprint in colours with diecut Mylar, 1968. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 75. Printed on smooth white paper by the artist. Published by the artist with his blindstamp. (Ingram & Halliwell 31) 58.5 x 73.5 cm
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T hree A xes Screenprint in colours with diecut Mylar, 1968. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 75. Printed on smooth white paper by the artist. Published by the artist with his blindstamp. (Ingram & Halliwell 34) 58.5 x 73.5 cm
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T race Screenprint in colours with diecut Mylar, 1968. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 75. Printed on smooth white paper by the artist. Published by the artist with his blindstamp. (Ingram & Halliwell 28) 58.5 x 73.5 cm
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Brigitte Bardot Screenprint in colours, 1968. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 200. Printed on smooth white paper by the artist. Published by the artist with his blindstamp. (Ingram & Halliwell 22) 89 x 58.8 cm
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Stacy Screenprint in colours, 1968. (From Baby Baby W ild T hings.) Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 200. Printed on smooth white paper by the artist. Published by the artist with his blindstamp. (Ingram & Halliwell 24) 89 x 58.5 cm
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Starlet Screenprint in colours, 1968. (From Baby Baby W ild T hings.) Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 200. Printed on smooth white paper by the artist. Published by the artist with his blindstamp. (Ingram & Halliwell 23) 89 x 58.5 cm
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Sandra Screenprint in colours, 1968. (From Baby Baby W ild T hings.) Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 200. Printed on smooth white paper by the artist. Published by the artist with his blindstamp. (Ingram & Halliwell 26) 89 x 58.5 cm
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Francine Screenprint in colours, 1968. (From Baby Baby W ild T hings.) Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 200. Printed on smooth white paper by the artist. Published by the artist with his blindstamp. (Ingram & Halliwell 27) 89 x 58.5 cm
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T racy Screenprint in colours, 1968. (From Baby Baby W ild T hings.) Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 200. Printed on smooth white paper by the artist. Published by the artist with his blindstamp. (Ingram & Halliwell 25) 89 x 58.5 cm
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A nna Karina Screenprint, 2004. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 100. Printed on white wove paper by Editions Domberger, Stuttgart. Published by the artist with his blindstamp. (Ingram & Halliwell 47) 99.8 x 65.8 cm
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A we Shucks Inkjet print in colours, 2004. Signed and numbered from the edition of 100. Published by the artist. (Ingram & Halliwell D10) 91.4 x 149 cm
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L’A pres Midi d’Un Faune Inkjet print in colours, 2004. Signed and numbered from the edition of 100. Published by the artist. (Ingram & Halliwell D4) 81.8 x 91.4 cm
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C apriccio Inkjet print in colours, 2005. Signed and numbered from the edition of 100. Published by the artist. (Ingram & Halliwell D8) 91.4 x 82.3 cm
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Lincoln C onvertible Screenprint in colours with silver leaf, 1963-2007. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 60. Printed on heavy wove paper by Advanced Graphics, London. Published by Sims Reed, London. 110 x 150 cm
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Kate Moss Screenprint in colours, 2007. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 90. Printed by Artizan Editions, Hove. Published by the artist. 98.6 x 65.5 cm
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G ethsemane Screenprint in colours with hand applied silver foil blocking, 2008. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 90. Printed by Artizan Editions, Hove. Published by the artist. 96.5 x 71 cm
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T he Kiss Screenprint printed in colours, 2007. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 90. Printed by Artizan Editions, Hove. Published by the artist. 94.3 x 110.6 cm
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Domestic Perspective Screenprint in colours, 2009. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 90. Printed by Artizan Editions, Hove. Published by the artist. 128 x 68 cm
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Belshazzar's Feast Screenprint in colours, 2010. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 90. Printed by Artizan Editions, Hove. Published by the artist. 85.5 x 122 cm
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Jean Harlow Screenprint in colours, 2011. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 200. Printed by St Pancras Editions, London. Published by the artist with his blindstamp. 86 x 121 cm
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Selected Solo Exhibitions 2012 Sims Reed Gallery ‘Gerald Laing: Prints and Multiples Past and Present’ 2011 Thomas Gibson Fine Art ‘Amy Winehouse’
2010 Sims Reed Gallery ‘Drawings 1942 - 2010: A Retrospective’ 2010 Morton Metropolis ‘Graphics’
2008 The Fine Art Society, London ‘Sculpture 1965-78’ 2008 Mayor Gallery, London ‘War Paintings’ 2007 StolenSpace, London ‘War Paintings’
2007 Globe Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne ‘War Paintings’
2006 Sims Reed Gallery, London ‘Space, Speed, Sex: Prints & Multiples 1965-1976’
2006 Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert, London ‘Space, Speed, Sex: Works from the early 1960s by Gerald Laing’ 2006 O Contemporary, Brighton ‘War Paintings’ 2005 Spike Art, New York ‘War Paintings’
2005 King’s College Cambridge ‘War Paintings’
2004 Bourne Fine Art Gallery, Edinburgh ‘From 1963 to the Present’ 2000 The Fine Art Society, London
1999 The Fine Art Society, London 1996 Whitford Fine Art, London
1994 Thomas Gibson Fine Art, London 1993 Harris Gallery, Houston
1993 Independent Gallery, London
1993 Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh ‘Gerald Laing: A Retrospective 1963-93’ 1989 Scottish Gallery, London
1987 Albert Totah Gallery, New York 1983 Joanne Lyon Gallery, Aspen
1983 Herbert Art Gallery, Coventry
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1982 Bacardi Gallery, Miami
1981 Gallery Camino Real, Boca Raton 1980 Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
1979 Max Hutchinson Gallery, New York 1979 Max Hutchinson Gallery, Houston
1978 Gladstone Court, Edinburgh (Festival) 1977 Max Hutchinson Gallery, New York
1973 University of New Mexico Art Museum, Allbuquerque 1973 Arthur Tooth & Sons, London
1971 Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, Colorado 1971 Cincinnati Center for Contemporary Art, Ohio
1971 Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh 1971 Multiples Gallery, New York
1970 Richard Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh 1970 Richard Feigen Gallery, Chicago
1969 Gallerie M.E. Thelen, Essen Pennsylvania State University 1969 Richard Feigen Gallery, New York
1967 Richard Feigen Gallery, New York 1966 Kornblee Gallery, New York
1966 Richard Feigen Gallery, New York 1965 Richard Feigen Gallery, Chicago
1965 Richard Feigen Gallery, New York
1964 Feigen Palmer Gallery, Los Angeles 1964 Richard Feigen Gallery
1964 Institute of Contemporary Art, London
1963 Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
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Selected Group Exhibitions 2007 - 2008 National Portrait Gallery, London ‘Pop Art Portraits’ 2004 Tate Britain, London ‘Art and the 60's
2004 Aspen Museum, Colorado ‘One Hour Ahead: The Avant-Garde in Aspen 1945 – 2004’ 2004 Galleria Civicà, Modena ‘Pop Art UK: British Pop Art 1956 - 1972’ 2003 - 2004 Montreal Museum of Art, Montreal ‘Les Anneés Sixties’ 1997 Benando Art Gallery, Lisbon ‘The Pop Sixties - Transatlantic’
1993 Barbican Art Gallery, London ‘The Sixties Art Scene in London’ 1991 Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh ‘Virtue and Vision’ 1981 Basel Art Fair, Switzerland
1978 Scottish Arts Council Gallery, Edinburgh ‘Objects and Constructions: Selected Scottish Scuplture’ 1978 Ingber Gallery, New York ‘Cubist Syntax in the 70s’
1970 Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio ‘Monumental American Sculpture’ 1970 Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania ‘Peace Show’
1969 Krannert Art Museum, Champaign, Illinois ‘Contemporary American Painting and Sculpture’ 1969 Richard Feigen Gallery, New York ‘Big New York’ 1968 Dusseldorf ‘Prospect 68’
1968 Whitney Museum, New York ‘Whitney Annual Sculpture Exhibition’ 1968 Richard Feigen Gallery, Chicago
1968 The Jewish Museum, New York ‘Primary Structures’ 1967 Gallery Stadler, Paris ‘Art Objective’
1966 Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam ‘New Forms’ 1965 San Francisco Museum of Art, California
1965 Museum of Contemporary Art, Nagoaka
1964 Arts Council of Great Britain Touring Exhibition 1964 ICA, London ‘Four Young Painters’
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Selected Public Collections The National Gallery, London The Tate Gallery, London
The Victoria & Albert Museum, London
The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh Glasgow Art Gallery
Glasgow Royal Infirmary
The Scottish Arts Council
The Standard Life Assurance Company, Edinburgh Inverness Museum
The Museum of Modern Art, New York The Whitney Museum, New York
The Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC The Minneapolis Institute of Art The Indianapolis Museum The Denver Museum
Gelsenkirchen Museum, Germany Nagaoka Museum, Japan
The Government of Sierra Leone New York University Harvard University
University of Denver
University of New Mexico University of Puerto Rico University of Aberdeen University of Glasgow
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sims reed gallery The Economist Building 30 Bury Street London SW1Y 6AU Tel. +44 (0) 207 930 5111 Fax +44 (0) 207 930 1555 gallery@simsreed.com www.gallery.simsreed.com