Richard Deacon

This untitled sculpture from 1980 is one of two works by Richard Deacon (b. 1949, Bangor) within Mudam’s collection. Made from bent plywood, it shows his early experiments with a material that he has now been using for forty years, honing ever-more precise methods of cutting, milling and heating the wood before twisting and bending it into shape. Multiple strips of wood are laminated together and braced with metal. The sense of volume defined by this linear, open structure is characteristic of Deacon’s sculpture and is inspired by the notion of non-rectilinear geometry and vessel-like forms.

In a text for the exhibition Objects and Sculpture at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London where this work was presented in 1981 the artist wrote, ‘I’m excited... by the flexibility of working with these small strips of wood. They have a neutrality and minimal, but sufficient, structural potential, unlike larger pieces of timber... This way of working... makes for a very intimate relationship with the form; in the case of, for example the large frame- like construction which is on a fairly massive scale, this is very important – it allows an intimacy with the spectator without dominating. I like the way, with this piece one can move around it, from outside to inside – when you see it from the other side you’re conscious of the form in general, moving away from you.’