frank avray wilson - the vital years
DESCRIPTION
A major exhibition of the works of Frank Avray Wilson, most of which are being shown for the first time in many years. These iconic examples from Avray Wilson's most creative period of the 50s and 60s reinforce the belief that the artist's reappraisal is long overdue.TRANSCRIPT
All works will be available on receipt of this catalogueOur gallery opening hours are Monday to Friday, 10am to 6pmViewing can also be arranged outside of these hours
All dimensions are approximate, height before width
25th May – 10th June 2011
Paisnel Gallery9 Bury Street, St James's, London sw1y 6ab telephone: 020 7930 9293email: [email protected]: www.paisnelgallery.co.uk
Introduction
The renewed interest in the art of the 1950s has amounted to far more than a mere
revivalist cog in the ever-turning fashion cycle. The widely acclaimed art of the
first full decade of the atomic age is now recognised for what it is – a compellingly
expressive and starkly honest re-definition of the human condition within an
indifferent universe. The progressive nature of avant-garde painting at this time
pushed many barriers in a quest for immediacy of statement, sensual engagement
with materials and unison between plasticity and unbridled vision.
Mauritius-born of Irish and French descent, the abstract painter Frank Avray Wilson
was at the epicentre of international developments under the general informalist,
tachiste and abstract expressionist banner. While sharing in the Zeitgeist that threw
up impastoed and strongly-coloured lyrical abstraction, Avray Wilson contributed
work with an individual intonation, one betraying a scientific background and
marked philosophical mindset. This distinguished, indeed intellectual, painter
authored several important books that aimed to situate the pressing issues of
contemporary abstract art within an expansive cultural, social and scientific field.
These broad-ranging tomes included ‘Art into Life’ (Centaur Press, London 1958),
‘Art as Understanding’ (1963), ‘Art as Revelation’ (1981) and ‘Seeing is Believing’ (1995).
The first of these used his scientific background – he read biology at Cambridge
during the 1930s – to reach a new synthesis between art and science. He therefore
saw abstract painting as embodying an ethical and moral, as well as aesthetic or
narrowly formal, dimension, and, in his own work, elicited a meaningful, if tense,
dichotomy between structure on the one hand and what Avray Wilson termed
‘Vitalist’ or impulsive free form on the other.
These studies took their place alongside books such as D’Arcy Thompson’s ‘On Growth
and Form’, Rudolf Arnheim’s ‘Art and Visual Perception’ (1956) or Anton Ehrenzweig’s
‘The Hidden Order in Art’ to posit a wide cultural and social framework for modern
art. Cosmological analogies abounded in much abstract painting. What Avray Wilson
called his ‘imageries’ were frequently explosive, either drawing on the ‘fissional’ or
‘fusional’ properties of a material cosmos in evolutionary flux. In contrast to Jackson
Pollock’s mature ‘drip’ paintings, however, Avray Wilson’s work showed a European
restraint, a need for a structuring order to counter chaos and random painterly
impulses. In this he cohered with the art of Riopelle and Soulages or, closer to home,
with like-minded artists William Gear, Roger Hilton and Bryan Wynter.
The way order and chaos was fused was simple – a use of black outline or lines of
force to embody or define thick slabs of vivid stained-glass-like colour, as in Forms on
White (Cat No 14), Composition with Orange (Cat No 1), or Pinks on Grey (Cat No 6).
These luscious and lavishly larded palette-knifed canvases also followed the hugely
influential Russian-born French painter Nicolas de Stael in retaining residual,
flickering motifs derived from nature – a figure, landscape or tilted still life table
top perhaps – and conveyed what the one-time Guardian art critic, Cathy Courtney
described in 1995 as ‘something sensed but not fully seen’.
In such guises pictorial art became not just an arena for intense, liberated ‘action’
in the sense espoused by the post-war American art critic Harold Rosenberg, but a
quieter, speculative conduit for man’s psychological vision. The artist as Shaman,
medium or seer carried mystical implications and Avray Wilson, as a child of his
times, transcended the confines of conventional religion to reach a Zen or Vedic
awareness. Avray Wilson’s fellow Redfern Gallery exhibitor Bryan Wynter spoke in
1957 of ‘the moment at which the eye looks out at the world it has not yet recognised...
This moment of seeing is in fact a fragment of a continuing process from which we
construct our world of human experience’. Wynter’s statement chimed with Avray
Wilson’s contemporary thought, the author of ‘Art into Life’ referring to ‘the internal
maturing process after a pleasing or stimulating sight has been contemplated’. This
internalisation of sensory experience of the outer world was key to the creative
transformation of the work of art, envisaged by Avray Wilson as the artist’s ‘innate
realisation of his cosmic participation’. Implicit in this world view was a redemptive
existential truth – that the entire cosmos only ‘exists’ through the unique and
knowing faculty of human consciousness, the abstract painting thereby functioning
as a microcosm of the underlying gravitational forces and expansive energies of
the material universe. When describing the ‘final experience beyond form’, the
‘shimmering cloud’ the ‘light brighter than all light’, Avray Wilson was indeed
investing his pictures with a vision of contemplative grace.
The dichotomy between formal structure and disembodied energy informed this
distinctive artist’s entire ‘oeuvre’. As in the work of many of his contemporaries,
the apparent spontaneity and expansive energy of Avray Wilson’s canvases was an
illusion hiding a robust and carefully wrought craftsmanship. The thick buttery
textures and almost kaleidoscopic colours of eye-catching pictures, such as Abstract
1958 (Cat No 9), Composition, Red and Green (Cat No 11), and Blue Centre (Cat No 13),
were testimony to the laboured execution. The vital dimension of colour, too, was no
accident, expressing deep-hidden reservoirs of experiences ranging from a childhood
spent amidst the tropical flora of the Indian Ocean to the later scientific examination
of the fabulous colour and facetted planes of crystals, minerals and microbiological
structures. Relieved of its associative naturalism within the synthetic context of
abstract art, colour stood as an autonomous agent, single hues often dominating
pictures as with the blues of Abstract 1958 (Cat No 9) and Yellow Square on Blue
(Cat No 4), or with the reds of Red Explosive (Cat No 18), Configuration Red (Cat No 20)
and the gouache, Composition with Red (Cat No 30). This use of colour amounted
to a mini fashion for many late 1950s painters, among them Mathieu, Wynter
(the ‘Firestreak’ series), Turnbull and Denis Bowen, representing for Avray Wilson, as
he put it, ‘the mobilisation of light as form-destroying agency’.
Such painters shared Avray Wilson’s ‘vitalist’ mission. With Denis Bowen, Avray
Wilson co-founded the New Vision Centre Gallery, Marble Arch in 1956, an
underground – in more ways than one − venue for non-figurative art for the next
decade. Colonial by birth and largely of independent means, Avray Wilson did not
need a teaching income with the result that he was, after the 1950s at least, less visibly
present on the London circuit, though his numerous exhibitions at the Redfern
Gallery and elsewhere, notably at the Redfern’s landmark Metavisual, Tachiste, Abstract
exhibition (1957) established his name and ensured his work made a distinctive
contribution to what the Redfern exhibition catalogue essayist Denys Sutton termed
‘an international style susceptible to different interpretations’.
The informalism of this post-war ‘international style’ distinguishes it, of course, from
its purist and concretist pre-war predecessor. The artists illustrated in the pioneering
and prophetic book ‘Art into Life’ – Turner, Sam Francis, Gillian Ayres, Robyn Denny,
William Turnbull, Ralph Rumney, Robin Plummer and Denis Bowen – were Avray
Wilson’s closest co-frères, exemplifying his philosophy that paintings ‘have ceased
to be “views” but have become zones of symbolic concentration which radiate out
and “work” upon the surroundings’. Avray Wilson’s elevated notion of the decorative
invested abstract painting with a life-enhancing role, fulfilling what he termed a
‘vitalising, integrating and completing influence’ on the man-made world.
Its role could also be realised in a concrete collaboration with architects in the
functional arena, Avray Wilson working on stained glass commissions while living in
Bisley, Gloucestershire during the 1960s. A stained glass triptych installed in a church
on the Roborough estate near Plymouth emulated Piper, Chagall and Manessier –
extending the pictorial into the architectonic world of literal light, space and colour.
Peter Davies
April 2011
oils
cat no 1 Composition with Orangeoil on canvas
48 x 48 inches / 122 x 122 cmsdated 1955
cat no 2 Configurationoil on board
18 x 15 inches / 46 x 38 cmssigned on label verso
painted circa 1955
cat no 3 Abstract 1955oil on canvas
30 x 25 inches / 76 x 63.5 cmsdated 1955 verso
cat no 4 Yellow Square on Blueoil on board
22 x 30 inches / 56 x 76 cmspainted circa 1955
cat no 5 Forms on Blueoil on canvas
30 x 80 inches / 76 x 203 cmspainted circa 1955
cat no 6 Pink on Greyoil on canvas
48 x 60 inches / 122 x 152.5 cmsdated 1957 verso
cat no 7 Yellows on Greenoil on canvas
60 x 48 inches / 152.5 x 122 cmssigned and dated 1958
cat no 8 Mixed Moveoil on board
41 x 12 inches / 104 x 30.5 cmsdated 1958 verso
cat no 9 Abstract 1958oil on canvas
30 x 60 inches / 76 x 152.5 cmsdated 1958 verso
cat no 10 Abstract 1959oil on board
70 x 48 inches / 178 x 122 cmsdated 1959 verso
cat no 11 Composition Red and Greenoil on canvas
48 x 48 inches / 122 x 122 cmssigned and dated 1959
cat no 12 Abstract 1960oil on canvas
30 x 25 inches / 76 x 63.5 cmssigned and dated ‘60
cat no 13 Blue Centreoil on canvas
22 x 18 inches / 56 x 46 cmssigned and dated ‘60
cat no 14 Forms on Whiteoil on canvas
48 x 48 inches / 122 x 122 cmssigned and dated 1960
cat no 15 Nowoil on canvas
60 x 48 inches / 152.5 x 122signed and dated ’60
titled verso
cat no 16 Painting 1960oil on board
30 x 22 inches / 76 x 56 cmssigned and dated 1960 verso
cat no 17 Positiveoil on board
49 x 39 inches 124.5 x 99 cmspainted circa 1960
cat no 18 Red Explosiveoil on board
39 x 49 inches / 99 x 124.5 cmspainted circa 1960
cat no 19 Composition 1960oil on canvas
60 x 48 inches / 152.5 x 122 cmssigned and dated 1960
cat no 20 Configuration Redoil on canvas
48 x 18 inches / 122 x 46 cmssigned and dated ’61
cat no 21 Big Blueoil on canvas
60 x 60 inches / 152.5 x 152.5signed and dated ’63
gouaches, mixed media
cat no 22 Two FiguresMixed media on paper laid on card
30 x 22 inches / 76 x 56 cms
cat no 23 Composition, Blue on Pinkmixed media on paper laid on card
30 x 22 inches / 76 x 56 cms
cat no 24 Purple with Reds and Blackmixed media on paper laid on card
30 x 22 inches / 76 x 56 cms
cat no 25 Accumulationmixed media on paper laid on card
30 x 22 inches / 76 x 56 cms
cat no 26 Orange and Bluesmixed media on paper laid on card
30 x 22 inches / 76 x 56 cms
cat no 27 Red Creationgouache on paper laid on card
24 ½ x 19 ¾ inches / 62 x 50 cms
cat no 28 Yellow and Black Cosmosgouache on paper laid on card
25 ½ x 19 ½ inches / 65 x 50 cmssigned and dated ’60
cat no 29 Blue and Grey Cosmosgouache on paper laid on card
25 ½ x 19 ½ inches / 65 x 50 cms
cat no 30 Composition with Redgouache on paper laid on card
12 x 9 inches / 30.5 x 23 cmssigned with initials and dated ’61
screenprints
cat no 31 Forms on Bluescreenprint
18 ½ x 12 inches / 47 x 30.5 cmssigned and dated ’56
numbered 17 from edition of 20
cat no 32 Forms on Redscreenprint
18 ½ x 12 inches / 47 x 30.5 cmssigned and dated ’56
number 21 from edition of 25
cat no 33 Forms on Greenscreenprint
18 ½ x 12 inches / 47 x 30.5 cmssigned and dated ’56
number 26 from edition of 30
cat no 34 Forms on Burgundyscreenprint
16 ½ x 9 ½ inches /42 x 24 cmssigned and dated ’56
numbered 36 from edition of 37
cat no 35 Yellow on Crimsonscreenprint
18 ½ x 12 inches / 47 x 30.5 cmssigned and dated ’56
numbered 17 from edition of 20
cat no 36 Yellow Forms on Blackscreenprint
19 ¼ x 12 / 49.5 x 30.5 cmssigned and dated ’56
numbered 19 from edition of 20
Biography
1914
Born 5th May in Mauritius, the youngest
of three children.
1921–22
Came to England, attended prep school
at St. Christopher’s School, Eastbourne.
Parents had homes in France, London and
Mauritius.
1927
Moved to Brighton College (the first
public school founded in Sussex) and
immediately engaged with science. Came
to London regularly and stayed with
parents at South Kensington, London.
Viewed exhibitions in London and Paris
with them.
c.1930
Returned to Mauritius for one year under
pressure from his father to take over the
family business there. Advised his father
that he was determined to study science
and returned to England.
1931–1934
Obtained MA in Biology at Cambridge
University.
1935
Returned to Mauritius with his fiancée,
Ivy and married there in 1936. Stayed in
Mauritius with his wife for five years due
to war in Europe.
1940s
Turned down by the Air Force due to
heart condition and instead served with
the Armed Forces in Madagascar.
Two of his children born during the war
and two after.
1944–45
Worked as Nutritional Advisor to
Governor in Mauritius. Painted in his
spare time and decided that on his return
to Europe he would abandon science and
turn to painting.
1945
End of the war. Moved back to London
and started painting at 6 Pembroke
Studios with main house in France.
1946–49
Spent several years painting and travelling
with his wife to Italy, France and Spain.
Spent time in Norway visiting his wife’s
family and whilst there continued to study
art. Also had private tuition in France.
1954
First exhibition in London at the
Obelisk Gallery.
1956
Together with Denis Bowen formed the
New Vision Centre Gallery in London,
which became a platform for modern and
abstract art.
1957
Began exhibiting with the Redfern
Gallery and established his name amongst
collectors and art critics in London.
1958
Art into Life, his first book published by
Centaur Press.
1963
Art as Understanding published.
1970
Stopped painting in the early 1970s to
devote more time to reading and studying
philosophy.
1995
Took a renewed interest in his painting
career with Redfern Gallery holding a solo
exhibition of forty works.
2009
Died 1st January 2009.
Solo Exhibitions:
1954 The Obelisk Gallery, London
1957 Galerie Craven, Paris
1961 Redfern Gallery, London
1995 Redfern Gallery, London
2011 Paisnel Gallery, London
Group Exhibitions:
1957 Metavisual, Tachiste, Abstract,
Redfern Gallery
1958 New Trends in British Art, The Art
Foundation, Rome and New York
1959 Six Young Painters, The Arts Council
1961 Commonwealth Vision,
The Commonwealth Institution
1986 Frank Avray Wilson, Warwick Arts
Trust
1988 Post War British Abstract Art, Austin
Desmond Fine Art
Publications:
1958 Art into Life (Centaur Press)
1963 Art as Understanding (Routledge &
Kegan Paul Ltd)
1977 Nature Regained (Branden Press)
1981 Art as Revelation (Centaur Press)
1995 Seeing is Believing (Book Guild Ltd)
Frank avray WIlSonThE vITal yEarS
Published in 2011 by Paisnel Gallery
to accompany exhibition 25th May – 10th June
isbn 978-0-9558255-4-5
Paisnel Gallery
9 Bury Street
St James’s
London sw1y 6ab
Telephone: 020 7930 9293
Email: [email protected]
www.paisnelgallery.co.uk
© Paisnel Gallery and Peter Davies
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted
in any form or by any means without first seeking
the written permission of the copyright holders and
of the publisher.
Photography: Paul Tucker Photography
Introduction: Peter Davies
Design: Alan Ward @ www.axisgraphicdesign.co.uk
Print: DeckersSnoeck, Antwerp
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