Catalogue Raisonné. Bull for Dingwall Marker
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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Bull for Dingwall Marker
Catalogue No. 680
Artist's CR 619
March, 2005
Kinkell
Bronze
17.75 x 27.5 x13.75 inches / 45 x 70 x35 cm
Collection: Private collection
Commissioned by Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd, Ross-shire.
The Dingwall Marker is so called because I intend that it should mark both the past and the present of Dingwall. The Dingwall Marker consists of a black granite Obelisk surmounted by a gilt bronze Highland Bull. On the side of the Obelisk which faces the road are carved the Names of Dingwall. On the side facing the car park is carved a narrative of the history of Dingwall in the time that I have known it. The model for the Highland Bull is Dalriada, the current champion of his breed, who lives at Tordarroch, south of Inverness. The Golden Bull is not, I hasten to say, a reference to the Golden Calf which was worshipped by the Children of Israel. He is here to remind us that this was the site of the old livestock Mart, that livestock breeding and droving, especially of cattle, was the most important industry in the Highlands for hundreds of years, and that Dingwall was (and still is) a vital centre for this activity.
Written for the Unveiling of The Dingwall Marker: A Sculpture by Gerald Laing, Gerald, unpublished manuscript, 24 March 2006