Dimensions: object: 260 x 327 x 248 mm
Copyright: © The estate of Peter Lanyon | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: Here we have Peter Lanyon's "Construction," residing at the Tate. It's this intriguing sculptural piece, metal and painted wood, about the size of a breadbox. It strikes me as both chaotic and strangely balanced. What’s your take on it? Curator: It's a whirlwind, isn't it? I see Lanyon wrestling with space, perhaps like trying to map the invisible winds of Cornwall where he lived. Do you feel the push and pull of opposing forces? The dark against the light? Editor: Absolutely. There's a tension, a sense of things wanting to break apart, but held together somehow. Curator: Precisely! It's the art of holding contradictions that sings to me. Editor: I love that! Now I see it, it's like a frozen moment of the elements clashing. Curator: Yes! Art isn't always about pretty pictures; sometimes it's about capturing the raw energy of the world.
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Lanyon began making constructions in 1939, when he was working in Gabo's studio in Carbis Bay, Cornwall. He acknowledged Gabo as the biggest inspiration for his sculpture, as the title 'Construction' recalls. Between 1946 and 1947 he made five objects, although four of these were later destroyed. Lanyon's widow recalls that he was always putting together and taking apart works of this kind. Though still constructed, Lanyon's sculpture of the 1950s was more painterly in character. He described these later works as 'experiments in space to establish the illusion and the content of space in painting'. Gallery label, August 2004
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