Phillip King

Description

Academy Piece 1971, constructed from mild steel and steel mesh, painted, is made of repeated elements juxtaposed to give the illusion of pressure. In a quote from the book Phillip King by Tim Hilton (Henry Moore Foundation and Lund Humphries, 1992), King says that it was 'a variation on the earlier Brancusi-like attempt to gain verticality through leaning. All the shapes stand up through being pushed on three or four sides.' First shown at the Royal Academy exhibition British Sculpture 72, this massive structure filled a whole gallery, and Hilton suggests that King's intentions might be better perceived if it were to be seen in the open air - 'Its difficulty might be moderated in the open air. In fact it was made out of doors at the Dunstable studio and is surely one of those pieces whose nature requires an outdoor site.'