Golem I 1957 - 1958

Curator: This is Robyn Denny's "Golem I," a sizable work residing in the Tate Collections. Editor: It has a brooding presence, doesn't it? The blues and ochres feel like a storm brewing. Curator: Note how Denny manipulates space through the layering of forms. The composition is carefully balanced, despite its apparent chaos. Editor: The scale is crucial here. You can almost feel the artist wrestling with the materials, the very physicality of applying the paint. I wonder what kind of brushes Denny used to get these textures? Curator: The title, "Golem," evokes themes of creation and artificial life. These abstract shapes, then, hint at a constructed being. Editor: Perhaps, but I'm also drawn to the raw materiality: the drips, the textured surfaces. It feels more like a deconstruction than a creation. Curator: A compelling point. Perhaps it's both. Editor: It's certainly left me thinking about the act of painting itself.