Geometry of Fear exhibition in Cheltenham

Until 20 July – Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum’s latest exhibition, Geometry of Fear, will showcase thought-provoking pieces from the most renowned British sculptors of the last 60 years.

Geometry of Fear, a new exhibition reflecting the anxiety of the post-war period, will be on display at Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum from 7 June to 20 July 2008, and will showcase 17 pieces from some of Britain’s most renowned sculptors.

Sculptures from Reg Butler, Lynn Chadwick, Bernard Meadows, Kenneth Armitage, John Hoskin, Robert Adams, Elizabeth Frink and Eduardo Paolozzi – a group of young artists who came to prominence in the 1950s – will all be represented, as well as related works on paper.

The work of these sculptors was first shown in a landmark exhibition at the British Pavilion in the 1952 Venice Biennale – this was a hugely successful show that ensured the international art world directed their gaze to London.

The famous art historian of the time, Herbert Read, coined the phrase ‘geometry of fear’ as a comment on the exhibitors’ expressionist style. He wrote in the exhibition catalogue: ‘These new images belong to the iconography of despair, or of defiance…These British sculptors have given sculpture what it never had before our time – a linear quality.’

According to organisers, the stylistic and technical innovations made by these sculptors cannot be underestimated – the curved, the carved and the smooth were abandoned for rough, spiky, welded structures.

Sculptors like Chadwick and Butler were seen as breaking away from the rounded, graceful shapes of Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth, while work by Moore is also included in the exhibition to allow visitors to compare the different approaches for themselves.

Some of the most striking pieces in Geometry of Fear include Reg Butler’s 1951 work Girl and Boy and Lynn Chadwick’s 1956 work The Seasons. Their spindly constructions have clearly been influenced by European artists such as Picasso and Giacometti.

Geometry of Fear contains powerful works which challenge the visitor, encouraging them to think about the post-war climate in which they were made. Many of the sculptors experienced first-hand the horrors of the front-line; they had all been subjected to the austerity of rationing, the bombsites and the disturbing threat of the Cold War.

Event: Geometry of Fear exhibition
Venue: Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum
Dates: Saturday 7 June to Sunday 20 July 2008
Times: Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum is open Monday to Saturday from 10am until 5.20pm.
Tickets: Admission is free, but donations are welcome. Visit cheltenhammuseum.org.uk for more information.

SoGlos.com
2 June 2008