John Gibbons

Description

Undeniably architectural in reference and scale, White Light

Passage is a drawing in space. The outline and detail are both described with the linear device of virgin stainless steel rod which, according to the light, has changing degrees of presence. Unlike lines drawn on paper, three-dimensional drawing includes the element of transparency - it is less easy for us to fill in with the mind's eye those parts which are missing. In his earlier work, Gibbons welded found metals into large and complex compositions. Some of the qualities of those works have seeped into this sculpture, where he uses differing types of stainless bar in some of the detail. We can also observe his absolute joy in welded joints, which are clearly visible and integral to the composition. In her catalogue essay on John Gibbons's recent work, the American writer and critic Karen Wilkin refers to these pieces as 'caged sculpture', an apposite phrase for works of containment and transparency.

The circular motif gives pause in an otherwise rectilinear formation although it is too low to give an uninterrupted view through the sculpture, but it somehow suggests a human element. In this location, where viewers may look through the sculpture across the meadows and woodland to Chichester Cathedral, the pointed tower acknowledges the steeple. There are also all manner of other architectural associations present, from the Canary Wharf tower in Londons Docklands to Big Ben and the skyscrapers of New York, for in this sculpture Gibbons is allusive rather than literal in his references.

In using stainless steel for this sculpture, a material which is colourless and highly reflective, absorbing and reflecting everything that is within its location, Gibbons has made it a conduit for light and also for ideas which we, the viewers, are invited to discover.