Dimensions: support: 1520 x 910 mm frame: 1727 x 1124 x 65 mm
Copyright: © The estate of William Gear | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: This is William Gear's "The Sculptor" at the Tate Modern. The composition feels really dynamic, almost like exploded architecture. What do you see in this piece? Curator: The title points us to a process of creation, but the fragmented forms also speak to the materials themselves. Note the weight and texture implied by the paint application, how it mimics the rough surfaces of stone or metal. Editor: So, you're thinking about how the act of painting itself mirrors the act of sculpting? Curator: Precisely. How does Gear's medium—paint on a flat canvas—both represent and transform the physical labor involved in sculpting? It challenges our understanding of both trades. Editor: I hadn't considered the material qualities in relation to the title before. Thanks, that's a great point. Curator: It’s all about understanding the artist's labour.
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This work can be read as a figure, with strut-like legs rising from the lower edge and an insect-like head in the top right. Gear was working on ideas for a sculpture at the same time as painting this. A new angularity and sharpness had entered his work in the 1950s. This has often been connected to the feeling of anxiety that emerged in British art – particularly sculpture – after the Second World War. But Gear himself rejected the ‘the stupid small-time … talk about Zeitgeist and angst and fears' in relation to his work. Gallery label, June 2020
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