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Colour

Spiritual Abstraction

Wednesday, 02 September 2009

Posted by Niki Fulton at 21:00 PM in Colour

When I heard there was to be a John McCracken exhibition at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh I knew I had to see it. I was interested not only in the visual impact of his show but in seeing the actual finish of his great blocks, slabs and columns.

McCrackens work, which falls under the term "spiritual abstraction", has been described as the perfect resolution between painting and sculpture. He famously wrote in 1966, "I think of colour as being the structural material I use to build the forms I am interested in. The fact that in another sense I use plywood, fibreglass and lacquer as structural materials is of less importance. I have found that a certain range of mainly primary and secondary colours and a certain combination of colour intensity and transparency and surface finish provide me with the expressive means I want, at least for the present"

His trade mark perfect high gloss finish is indeed quite incredible. I spent a long time examining the pieces trying to find a mere hint of a flaw, perhaps a slightly uneven edge or a small ripple, but no. The monoliths are perfect. And what's more incredible is that the high gloss surface is painstakingly created by hand. To achive this he colours clear resin with pigment, then pours a layer of about an eighth of an inch thick on to each surface. Next he sands and sands,buffs and polishes until the surface becomes totally smooth and highly reflective.

For such large solid objects, they add a surprising lightness to the gallery. They do of course reflect the ample light that floods into Inverleith House and the structures reflect interesting patterns of plants from the botanics outside. It is also an exhibition you must move around and view from different angles because the sculptures interplay with each other and you find sudden striking colour combinations as the sculptures overlap in your field of vision.

The exhibition is on until 11th October, and with changing light levels and weather conditions I am quite sure each visit will be unique.

Many thanks to the exhibitions team at Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh for supplying the photograph.

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