Flaxman: Understudy 1972

Curator: Here we have Ian Stephenson’s “Flaxman: Understudy,” a work held in the Tate collection. What are your first thoughts? Editor: It feels chaotic, almost like an explosion of color barely contained within a rectangular frame. What materials did Stephenson employ to achieve this effect? Curator: Stephenson was known for his use of sprayed paint. In this work, you can see the build-up of countless tiny droplets forming a dense, textured surface. Editor: Indeed. The layering of these droplets suggests a repetitive, almost industrial process, yet the result is surprisingly organic. Curator: The title suggests a connection to the neoclassical sculptor John Flaxman, which creates an interesting tension given Stephenson's seemingly spontaneous technique. Perhaps he is understudying Flaxman's focus on line, translated into this dot matrix. Editor: Maybe he's commenting on the artistic process itself, where meticulous execution can still yield unpredictable results. Curator: A fascinating ambiguity in the tension between structure and chance. Editor: It makes you appreciate the labor embedded in this seemingly effortless composition.