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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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1982 – 2007: Portrait Heads

Gerald Laing's portrait work includes heads and reliefs of Luciano Pavarotti, Andy Warhol, Paul Getty and Sam Wanamaker.

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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.

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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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Search the Catalogue

Cr094 slide gc bwp cutout

Slide

Catalogue No. 97

Artist's CR 094

July, 1965

London

Stove enamel on aluminium and chrome on steel

100 x 48 inches / 254 x 122 cm

Collection: The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield

    Provenance:
  • (Richard Feigen Gallery, New York)
  • Collection of John and Kimiko Powers
  • Collection of The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield

While still based on the skydiver theme, this piece is very formal and utilises its immediate environment to a very high degree. In fact, the actual painted part of the piece becomes almost like a gap between the two stronger open forms either side of it; a gap through which, perhaps, a coloured lining may be glimpsed. If this is accepted, then the reflective depth of the chrome creates another, more mysterious, dimension.

1971: Gerald Laing, Gerald Laing, exhibition catalogue, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, 1971