Dimensions: support: 917 x 892 x 4 mm frame: 1109 x 1083 x 60 mm
Copyright: © The estate of William Green | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: Here we have William Green's "Untitled" artwork, held in the Tate Collection. The dark surface is punctuated by lighter smudges, and I'm intrigued by the texture. What do you see in this piece from a formalist perspective? Curator: The composition relies heavily on the interplay between darkness and light. Note how the artist manipulates the materiality of the paint itself to create depth and variation across the support. How does the application of the medium affect your perception? Editor: I see what you mean. The way the paint is layered definitely adds to the overall depth. Curator: Indeed. It seems Green explores the optical possibilities within a limited tonal range. The absence of explicit forms encourages a focus on the inherent qualities of the medium. Editor: That's a great way to look at it. Thanks! Curator: My pleasure. It’s all about seeing what’s already present.
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As a student at the Royal College of Art, Green developed an early combination of action painting and performance art by throwing bitumen and paraffin at the surface of the painting and setting it on fire. His actions were filmed by Ken Russell for the BBC, establishing him as a pioneer of auto-destructive art. By the mid-1960s, however, Green was disillusioned by the sensationalist coverage of his work and withdrew from the art world, only beginning to produce work again in the 1990s. Gallery label, October 2012
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