Four Kings c. 1972 - 1983

Editor: Here we have Barry Flanagan's "Four Kings," a delicate image from the Tate's collection, depicted using what looks like pencil on paper. There's a gentle fragility to the arrangement of the cards. How would you interpret this drawing? Curator: For me, it whispers of chance and fate. The kings, usually symbols of power, are here vulnerable, stacked unevenly. I am drawn to the lines: they're so tentative, aren't they? As if Flanagan is questioning the very authority these figures represent. Do you see the slight imperfections in the card designs themselves? Editor: I do now! It's like he's playfully undermining their regal status. I hadn't considered that. Curator: Exactly! Perhaps it’s a commentary on the illusion of control, the randomness inherent in life's game. Editor: Well, I'll never look at a deck of cards the same way again!