COLOUR MATTERS ALLEN JONES
COLOUR MATTERS ALLEN JONES
25 November 2015-23 January 2016
Marlborough Fine Art 6 Albemarle Street London W1S 4BY Telephone: + 44 (0)20 7629 5161 mfa@marlboroughfineart.com www.marlboroughfineart.com
Liberating the Line Jake Auerbach
Allen Jones paints and sculpts and he shares his time fairly equally between the two, switching he says “for inspiration or in search of relief”. Like Giacometti or Picasso his work in both disciplines complements the other. But Jones is not a sculptor who paints nor a painter who sculpts and therefore the divisions between the flat 2D picture and 3D sculptural shape are not unbridgeable for him. In fact, the battle between line and form… between the miracle of producing an exciting image on a flat plane and the wonder of creating a form which works from every angle is one that inspires work of excitement and vitality. Some early paintings had ledges which projected from the surface or stairs which lead down from it. The artist originally imagined that these were routes for him to enter the world in the picture before realising that they were invitations to the imaginary women to join him in ours. These invitations refused, Jones made the figures in solid, sculptural form. His sculptures, especially the large public pieces, have conjured mass and movement using plates of flat, 2- dimensional steel. It is clear that his work over the last 60 years has seen Jones use the lessons learned in both painting and sculpture to increase the possibilities in both disciplines. Jones’ sculpture tends to concentrate on a certain figure; wring the possibilities dry; then move on. This exhibition sees the completion of one suite of works and reveals the beginning of a new collection. The figure in the “Waiting on Table” series has been cast in various roles and dressed in many colours, her demure expression unchanged... now though, the almost imperceptible loss of focus due to the master mould showing its age has triggered her impending retirement. Her
Top Studio shot c1975 Above Deirdre Morrow: Life Imitating Art 1978 Right Head in the Wind c1958
Above 3rd Man 1964 Right To Be Or Not To Be 2014 Below Pencil sketch 2015
independent, stationary sequence is coming to a close and her final performances see her mobile and melting back into the picture as her colours respond to the background in conjunctions of sculpture and painting which blur the point where one ends and the other begins. “Red Queen” and “Blue Queen” launch fresh experiments in colour and form, surprisingly fresh given that they resonate so strongly with works from the beginning of Jones’ career; their torsos remind one of the “Men” series began in the late 1950’s. Half a century later and rendered in Perspex rather than wood, these figures hit their target... abstract forms that speak to the solar plexus as well as the brain; abstraction which encourages the touch as well as the look. On the shoulders of these sit heads made from flat sheets of Perspex, these echo Jones’ 1959 painting “Heads in the Wind” but now the drawn lines have been freed from the surface and released into space… The edges of the Perspex catching and reflecting the light like a knife in the sun... and it is these edges which describe the mass and the features. The result is dramatic and seems, to this viewer at least, to be a revolution... these are not the result of an accumulation of mass or repeated refinements of the solid to conjure up a figure but a deliberate and specific line which slices through the air and describes the feeling of a female head from every angle... A human being described not with the freedom of Alexander Calder or the weight of Alberto Giacometti but with the precision and delicacy of Allen Jones.
Red Shoes 2015 Perspex and mixed media 198 x 60 x 45 cm
Green Shoes 2015 Perspex and mixed media 186 x 60 x 45 cm
Black Shoes 2015 Mixed media: Clear perspex body, with objects inside, and painted perspex head 198 x 70 x 53 cm
Red Queen 2014 Mixed media: Timber figure, spray painted, perspex head 200 x 55 x 55 cm
Blue Queen 2015 Mixed media: Timber figure, spray painted, perspex head 193 x 55 x 55 cm
Painted Blue Sketch 2015 Perspex and oil paint 31 x 46 x 26 cm
A Model Model 2014/5 Polished stainless steel body, Spray painted cast resin bust 185.5 x 86 x 79 cm
The Blue Gymnast 2014 Mixed media 215 x 89 x 45 cm
Cover Story 2015 Spray painted fibreglass with leather accessories and stainless steel stand 160 x 45 x 45 cm
Top Painted Red Sketch 2015 Perspex and oil paint 25 x 38 x 20 cm Middle Blue Head 2015 Perspex 36 x 54 x 20 cm Bottom Red Head 2015 Perspex 36 x 40 x 20 cm Opposite Let’s Dance 2014/15 Painted Aluminium 173 x 134.5 x 48.3 cm
ALLEN JONES R.A. •Born in Southampton, GB, 1937 EDUCATION •1955-1959 Hornsey College of Art, London, GB •1959-1960 Royal College of Art, London, GB AWARDS AND HONOURS •1963 Prix de Jeunes Artists. Paris Biennale •1986 Elected R.A. •1990-1999 Trustee, British Museum, •2000-ongoing Emeritus Trustee, British Museum •2007 Awarded Honorary Doctorate of Arts, Southampton Solent University Has taught lithography, painting and drawing at Croydon College of Art (1961-3); Chelsea School of Art (1966-8); Department of Painting, University of South Florida (1968-9); Hochschule für Bildenden Kunst, Hamburg (1968-70); University of Los Angeles, Irvine (1973); UCLA (1977); Banff Centre School of Fine Arts, Alberta, Canada (1977); Hochschule der Künste, Berlin (1982-3). SOLO EXHIBITIONS 1963 •Arthur Tooth and Sons, London, GB 1964 •Arthur Tooth and Sons, London, GB •Editions Alecto (graphics), London, GB •Richard Feigen Gallery, New York NY, USA 1965 •Richard Feigen Gallery, Chicago IL, USA •Feigen/Palmer Gallery, Los Angeles CA, USA •Richard Feigen Gallery, New York NY, USA 1966 •Galerie Bischofsberger, Zurich, Switzerland •Southampton University: graphics, Southampton, GB 1967 •Arthur Tooth and Sons, London, GB •Hamilton Gallery, London, GB •Galerie Der Spiegel, Cologne, Germany •Galerie Neuendorf, Hamburg, Germany 1968 •Editions Alecto (graphics), London, GB •Galerie Mikro, Berlin, Germany 1969 •Galleria Milano, Milan, Italy •Galerie Werigstatt, Bremen, Germany 1970 •Arthur Tooth and Sons, London, GB •Galerie Rudolf Zwirner, Cologne, Germany •Studio d’Arte Condotti 85, Rome, Italy •Galleria Milano, Milan, Italy •Galerie Springer, Berlin, Germany 1971 •Marlborough Graphics, London, GB •Galleria Il Fauno, Turin, Italy •Galerie Der Spiegel, Cologne, Germany •Galerie Fonk, Gent, Belgium 1972 •Marlborough Fine Art, London, GB •Studio d’Arte Condotti 85, Rome, Italy •Galleria Milano, Milan, Italy •Grunwald Foundation, University of California, Los Angeles CA, USA
1973 •Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne, Australia •Hogarth Galleries, Sidney, Australia •Galerie von Loeper, Hamburg, Germany 1974 •Seibu, Tokyo, Japan •Neitetsu, Nagoya, Japan 1975 •Oriel Gallery, Cardiff, GB •Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, GB •Arnolfini, Bristol, GB •Galerie Ariadne, Vienna, Austria •Neue Galerie der Stadt, Linz, Austria 1976 •Waddington Galleries, London, GB •Galerie Wentzel, Hamburg, Germany •Pander Kunstcentrum, The Hague, The Netherlands 1977 •James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles CA, USA Nova Gallery, Vancouver, Canada •Art Galleries, University of California, Los Angeles CA, USA 1978 •Institute of Contemporary Art: retrospective of drawings and watercolours, London, GB •Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, GB: retrospective of drawings and watercolours •Waddington Galleries, Montreal, Canada •Waddington Galleries, Toronto, Canada 1979 •Serpentine Gallery: retrospective 1959-78, London, GB •Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, GB: retrospective 1959-78, subsequently at Serpentine, Sunderland Museum and Art Gallery, GB •Staatliche Kunsthalle, Baden-Baden, Germany •Kunsthalle, Bielefeld, Germany •Deweer Art Gallery, Zwevegem-Otegem, Belgium •Galerie Wentzel, Hamburg, Germany 1980 •Waddington Galleries, London, GB 1981 •Galerie Engström, Stockholm, Sweden •Galleria Cavallino, Venice, Italy •Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa 1983 •Waddington Galleries, London, GB •Galleria d’Arte Forni, Bologna, Italy •Thordén Wetterling Galleries, Gothenburg, Sweden •Galerie Kammer, Hamburg, Germany •Galerie Yerba, Murcia, Spain 1985 •Galerie Patrice Trigano, Paris, France •Waddington Galleries, London, GB •Galerie Kaj Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland 1986 •Galerie Jacob, Basel, Switzerland •Zack-Shauster Gallery, Boca-Raton FL, USA 1987 •James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles CA, USA •Galerie Here Hünermann, Düsseldorf, Germany 1988 •Charles Cowles Gallery, New York NY, USA •Waddington Galleries, London, GB
1989 •Galerie Patrice Trigano, Paris, France •Heland Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden 1991 •Galerie Cotthem, Ostend, Belgium 1992 •Galerie Wentzel, Cologne, Germany •Galerie Levy, Madrid, Spain •Frank Pages Art Gallery, Baden-Baden, Germany 1992-93 •Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea: travelling to Oriel 31, Powys, Wrexham Library Arts Centre, Middlesborough Art Gallery, GB 1993 •Waddington Galleries, London, GB •Galerie Mourmans, Knokke, Belgium •Galerie Hette Hünemann, Düsseldorf, Germany 1995 •Galerie Levy, Hamburg, Germany •Boomans Museum, Celle, Germany •Barbican Art Gallery: print retrospective, London, GB •Giò Marconi, Milan, Italy •Dean Clough, Halifax, GB •Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, GB 1996 •Galerie Hilger, Vienna, Austria •Kunsthalle, Darmstadt, Germany •Galleria Civica, Modena, Italy •Hauger Vestfold Kunstmuseum, Tonsberg, Norway •Galerie Pro Arte, Freiburg, Germany 1997 •Galerie Levy, Hamburg, Germany •Czech Museum of Modern Art, Prague, Czech Republic •Nicosla Municipal Art Gallery, Nicosia, Cyprus •Thomas Gibson Fine Art, watercolours, London, GB 1998 •Marino alla Scala Art Center, Fondazione Trussardi, Milan, Italy •Galerie Hilger, Vienna, Austria •Galerie Patrice Trigano, Paris, France 1999 •Galerie Steinötter, Münster, Germany •Galerie Levy, Hamburg, Germany •Galerie Levy, Madrid, Spain •Galerie Kaj Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland •Ars Nova Museum, Turku, Finland •Tula, Helsinki, Finland •Galleria d’Arte Maggiore, Bologna, Italy •Skulpturen-Garten der Stadt Wien, Vienna, Austria 2000 •Kunsthaus, Cologne, Germany •Kunsthaus, Hannover, Germany 2001 •Galerie Terminus, Munich, Germany 2002 •Kunsthalle, Villa Kobe, Halle/Saale, Germany •Palazzo dei Sette, Orvieto, Italy •Galleria d’Arte Maggiore, Bologna, Italy •NORD/LB Galerie, Hannover, Germany dedicated room at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London, GB
2003 Alan Cristea Gallery, London, GB 2007-2008 •Tate Britain, London GB, dedicated room of watercolours, paintings and drawings, •Royal Academy of Arts, London, GB, dedicated room of watercolours 2007 Alan Cristea Gallery, lithographs, silkscreen prints, woodcut lithographs, paintings and watercolours, London, GB 2008 Marlborough Fine Art, “Showtime”, paintings, sculptures, London, GB 2009 Ludlow Castle, Shropshire, “Figures Waiting”, sculptures, London, GB 2010 Marlborough Fine Art,”Playbill”, paintings, prints, London, GB 2011 “In Stages”, Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm and Gothenburg, Sweden 2012 – 2013 •“Off The Wall“, Kunsthalle Tübingen, Tübingen; UNESCO World Heritage Site, Vöklinger Hütte, Saarbrücken; State Art Collection, Chemnitz, Germany •“Kaleidoscope“, Pages Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland, 2013 •Galerie Levy, Hamburg, Germany, 2013 •Galerie Hilger, Vienna, Austria, 2013 2013 - 2014 •Galerie Terminus, Munich, Germany •Kunsthalle Hannover, Hannover, Germany •Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland •Thomas Gibson Fine Art, London (Drawings), GB •The Royal Academy of Arts, London, GB retrospective (to 2015) 2015 •Art in the Park, Baur au Lac, Zurich, Switzerland •“Colour Matters”, Marlborough Fine Art, London (sculpture), GB RECENT GROUP SHOWS •Pop Art (Royal Academy, London, 1991, travelling to Cologne, Madrid, Montreal) •The Sixties Art Scene in London (Barbican Art Gallery, London, 1993) •The Portrait Now (National Portrait Gallery, London, 1994) •Fémininmasculin (Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1995-6) •The Berardo Collection (Sintra, Portugal, 1996) •Brancusi to Beuys – The Ted Power Collection (Tate Britain, London, 1996) •Les Sixties (Musée d’Histoire Contemporaine, Paris, 1996-7) •Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, 1997 •Treasure Island (Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, 1997) •The Pop ‘60s (Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisbon, 1997) •Pop Impressions Europe/USA (MoMA, New York, 1999) •Les années Pop (Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2001) •Pop Art, US/UK (Menil Foundation, Houston, 2001) •Transition, The London Art Scene in the Fifties, (Barbican Art Galleries, London, 2002) •Out of Line, drawings from the Arts Council Collection, London, (2002) •Den Haag Sculptuur 2002, Europa in Beeld,
(The Hague, 2002) •Blast to Freeze (Kunstmuseum, Wolfsburg, 2002, •Les Abattoirs, Toulouse, 2003) •Thinking Big: Concepts for 21st century British Sculpture (The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, 2002) •About Face: Get Your Head Around Sculpture, (Croydon Clocktower, 2002) •... from little acorns ... Early works by Academicians (The Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2002-3) •Ideal Women! Van Gerrit Rietveld tot Dutch Design(Centraal Museum, Utrecht, Netherlands 2002-2003) •Phantom der Lust (Neue Galerie und Stadtmuseum, Graz, 2003) •Editions Alecto - A Fury for Prints, (The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, 2003 and Bankside Art Gallery, London) •Mike Kelley - The Uncanny (Tate, Liverpool, 2004) •Pop Art UK – 1956-1972 (Galleria Civica, Modena, 2004) •Art and the 60’s, This Was Tomorrow (Tate Gallery, London, 2004) •The Uncanny (Tate Liverpool and Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, 2004-5) •“Visual Wit” (The Royal Academy of Arts,London 2005 and Shandy Hall, Coxwold, 2005); The Human Figure in British Art from Moore to Gormley (Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield, 2005) •Dutch Pop Art & The Sixties (Cobra Museum, Netherlands 2005) •Small is Beautiful (Flowers Central, 2005) •Royal Academicians in China (China National Museum of Fine Arts, Beijing, 2005): Newby Hall Sculpture Park, 2005 •Drawings from Turner, (Tate Britain, London, 2006) •Artists of Fame and Promise (Bohun Gallery, Henley on Thames, 2005) •British Pop Art Exhibition (Museum of Fine Arts, Bilbao, 2005-6) •As is When: A Boom in British Printmaking 1961-1972, British Council Touring Exhibition from 2003 – 2007, visiting Germany, Estonia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Romania, Italy, Portugal, Lithuania, Poland and Taiwan •Pop Art Is... (Gagosian Gallery, London, 2007) •Pop Art Portraits ( National Portrait Gallery, 2007) •True Romance (Kunsthalle, Vienna, 2007-2008), and on to Kiel and Munich; This is Pop – 19561968, (Rome, 2008) •Triptych, ( Grand Theatre, Angers, 2008) DLA Piper Series: This is Sculpture, (Tate Liverpool, 2009) •Art Nouveau Revival, (Musee d’Orsay, Paris, 2009-10) •WinterWaterColorLand, (Samuel Freeman Gallery, Los Angeles, USA, 2009) •Crash, (Gagosian Gallery, London, 2010) •Art in the Park, (Baur au Lac, Zurich, 2010) •Contemporary Sculpture Exhibition, (Palazzo Racconigi, Piedmont, 2010) •Art in the Park, ( Baur au Lac, Zurich, 2011) •Milan anni 60, (Rome, Fondazione Roma Museo, Milan, Palazzo Reale, 2011) •British Design 1948-2012: Innovation in the Modern Age, (Victoria & Albert Museum, London 2012) •60’s Design, (Möbelmuseum, Vienna, 2012) •Pop Art Design, ( Vitra Museum, Weil am Rhein Germany and Louisiana Museum, Denmark, Barbican, London 2012-2013) •Pop Art, ( Museum Het Valkhof, Nijmegen, Netherlands, 2012-2013) •American Pop Art, (Contemporary Art Space, Salzburg, 2012) •Glam! The Art of Excess, (Tate Liverpool, 2012) •The Universal Addressability of Dumb Things, (Liverpool, Nottingham and De La Warr Pavillion, Bexhill on Sea, 2012) •The Sixties in the Guggenheim Collections:
from informal to Pop”, (Guggenheim Foundation and the City of Vercelli, 2013) •“British Pop – The Founding Years”, (Christie’s, London, 2013) •“Beyond Limits”, (Sotheby’s sculpture exhibition, sited at Chatsworth, Derbyshire, 2013) •Pop Culture, (MANA Contemporary, Jersey City, USA, 2013) •Pop to Popism, (Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, 2014–2015) •Pop Art Myth, (Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, 2014) •Pop Europe!, (Wolverhampton Art Gallery, 2014-2015) •The Artist’s Eye, (LWL-Museum fur Kunst und Kultur, Munster, 2014) •Ludwig Goes Pop, (Museum Ludwig, Cologne, 2014) •The Wish List, (London Design Festival, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 2014) •Fighting History, (Tate Britian, London, 2015) SCULPTURE COMMISSIONS •International Garden Festival, Liverpool (1984) •Frederick R. Weisman Foundation, Los Angeles (1984-5) •Cottons Atrium, London Bridge City (1987) •Milton Keynes Development Corporation (1989) •Heathrow Terminal 4 (1990) •Chelsea and Westminster Hospital (1993) •London Docklands (1994) •Taikoo Place, Hong Kong (1997) •Sculpture at Goodwood (1998) •Chatsworth, Derbyshire (2000) •Woolton House, Berkshire, private collection (2000) •Ennismore Gardens, London, private collection (2001) •Beamsley, Yorkshire, private collection (2002) •Glaxo SmithKline World Headquarters, London (2001) •Taikoo Place, Hong Kong (2002-3) •Estouteville, Virginia, private collection (2004-5) •The Red Mansion Foundation, London (2004-5) •Yuzi Paradise Sculpture Parks, Guilin and Shanghai, China (2005-6) •Chatsworth House Trust, Derbyshire, 2007 STAGE COMMISSIONS •O Calcutta (1970) •Eric Satie’s Cinema (Ballet Rambert, 1987) •Signed in Red (Royal Ballet, 1995-6) WORKS IN PUBLIC COLLECTIONS INCLUDE •Ars Nova Museum of Contemporary Art, Turku, Finland •Arts Council of Great Britain •Arts Council of Northern Ireland •Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth •Boymans van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam •British Council •British Museum, London •Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon •Chicago Museum of Art •City Art Gallery, Birmingham •Ferens Art Gallery, Kingston-on-Hull •Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts •Frederick R Weisman Foundation, Los Angeles •Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC •Konstmuseets Vanner, Gothenburg •Kunsthalle, Bielefeld •Kunsthalle Hamburg •Kunstmuseum, Düsseldorf •Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte Münster •Moderna Museet, Stockholm •Musée Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels •Museum Aachen •Museum Bochum
•Museum of Contemporary Art, Ghent •Museum of Modern Art, New York •Museum of 20th Century Art, Vienna •Nagoaka Museum, Japan •National Museum of Wales, Cardiff •National Portrait Gallery, London •Neue Galerie der Stadt, Linz •Oregon State University •Pasadena Art Museum •Peter Stuyvesant Collection •Power Gallery of Contemporary Art, Sydney •Regional Museum, Olinda Province, Brazil •Southampton Art Gallery •Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam •Sunderland Art Gallery, Sunderland •Tate, London •University of Sydney, Australia •Vancouver Art Gallery •Victoria and Albert Museum, London •Vitra Design Museum Weil am Rhein •Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool •Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne •Yuzi Paradise Sculpture Parks, Shanghai and Guilin
Metalwork John Crisfield, The Sculpture Factory Specialist finishes Andy Dance at URT Ltd Leatherwork Whitaker Malem Paintwork Steve Cook Plastics Capital Models Resin casting CMA Moldform Ltd Woodwork Nick Butler Design Studio David Hillman Photography Peter Wood Retouching Happy Retouching Printing Pureprint ISBN: 978-1-909707-24-5 Catalogue no. 651 (C) 2015 Marlborough Fine Art (London) Ltd
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