Catalogue Raisonné. After the Ball is Over I
The Major Periods
1962 – 1965: Early Pop Paintings
As one of the original wave of Pop artists Gerald Laing produced some of the most significant works of the British Pop movement. His paintings reproduced images of popular heroes such as starlets, film stars, drag racers, astronauts and skydivers. His 1962 portrait of Brigitte Bardot is an iconic work of the period and regularly features in major Pop retrospectives alongside Lincoln Convertible from 1964, a commemoration of the assassination of JFK.
1965 – 1970: Utopian Abstract Sculpture
From 1965 Gerald Laing's painting evolved into abstract sculptures using the techniques and materials of car customisation - lacquering, spray-painting and chrome-plating on metal.
View all Utopian Abstract Sculpture
1970 – 1973: Sculpture In The Landscape
A move from New York to the Highlands of Scotland in 1970 saw Gerald Laing's sculpture respond to the beauty, roughness and power of the surrounding landscape.
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1972 – 2010: Public Sculpture
Public sculptures include the the Bank Station Dragons; the Rugby Sculptures at Twickenham Stadium; the Cricketer at Lords; the Highland Clearances Memorial in Helmsdale, Sutherland and Axis Mundi in Edinburgh.
1973 – 1980: Galina Series
Inspired by the figurative sculpture of the First World War Artillery Memorial at Hyde Park Corner, in 1973 Gerald Laing began to model in clay and cast in bronze. The Galina Series and associated sculptures were his first works from this period.
1982 – 2007: Portrait Heads
Gerald Laing's portrait work includes heads and reliefs of Luciano Pavarotti, Andy Warhol, Paul Getty and Sam Wanamaker.
2002 – 2005: War Paintings
The Iraq war and the publication of images of torture at Abu Ghraib prison drew Gerald Laing back to painting for the first time in over three decades. The War Paintings series sees the starlets and all-American heroes of his early paintings take on new, more sinister roles.
2004 – 2011: New Paintings
Returning to the style and subject matter of his early pop art paintings, Gerald Laing's latest paintings feature media images of contemporary celebrities including Amy Winehouse and Kate Moss.
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After the Ball is Over I
Catalogue No. 246
Artist's CR 236
1968
New York
Lacquered aluminium and chrome on brass
96 x 10.25 x12 inches / 244 x 26 x30 cm
Collection: Private collection
- Private collection
- Private collection
- Private collection
This puerile penile concern lead on to a sculpture which I suppose is the first indicator of my hitherto quiescent but growing urge towards the figurative once more. I made two versions of it – it’s called After the Ball is Over, a reference to the old waltz tune and to the then current slang for sexual intercourse. It is based on my abstract ‘Pin’ configuration, freestanding, and has a silhouette of pendant male genitals on the chromium plated transverse section. On the tip of the recumbent penis is a small extension in the shape of a drop of liquid. Hence, After the Ball is Over... None of this was very serious; it’s sophomoric and more indicative of boredom and anarchy.
'Gerald Laing: An Autobiography', Gerald Laing, unpublished manuscript, 2011, ch.31