Bull 1956

Curator: Right, let's look at "Bull" by Robert Clatworthy, currently housed at the Tate. I always find it to be such a commanding, almost primal thing. Editor: Yes, there's a raw energy. The bronze material is roughened, almost as if it's bursting from the earth, you know? It certainly conveys its animality. Curator: It's about 180 x 380 x 150 mm, relatively small, yet it possesses such a monumental feel. I think of it as Clatworthy's attempt to capture the very essence of bull-ness. Editor: I like that. It's not a photorealistic bull, thank goodness. The imposing midsection—a solid block bisecting its body—almost reads as a formalist statement about mass and volume. Curator: Perhaps. Or maybe it hints at the brute force contained within this animal, the potential violence held in check, ready to unleash. Editor: Well, either way, Clatworthy’s Bull makes us consider the tension between form and feeling, doesn't it? Curator: Absolutely. And to see how a beast can be captured in a single, powerful statement.