Catalogue Raisonné. The Glass Virgins
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.
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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.
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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The Glass Virgins
Catalogue No. 636
Artist's CR 584
1999
Kinkell
Laminated and etched glass (both sides); inlaid, plated and patinated copper sheet, and paint
135.63 x 47.25 inches / 345 x 120 cm , 10 panels, each
Collection: Private collection
Commissioned for the Standard Life offices in Lothian Road, Edinburgh. The theme of the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins was shared with two of Laing’s other works for Standard Life, Frieze of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (cat. number 411) and Axis Mundi (cat. number 550).
In The Glass Virgins (1999) the Wise Virgins express various forms of strength and ecstasy; they know who they are and where they are going. The Foolish Virgins show weakness, confusion and vacillation. Both Wise and Foolish Virgins are individuals who differ from one another…
The cloud forms above these figures echoing their concerns in form, rhythm and texture; the central Wise Virgin displays the image for God which is common to all three sculptures, and the central Foolish Virgin is dominated by a serpent with its reference to self-devouring, infinity, and the fall.
The contrast between the solid and opaque and constant symbols above these figures, and the fugitive quality of the figures themselves as they appear, disappear and re-form in the changing light is a metaphor for the transitory nature of human existence.
Standard Life's Wise and Foolish Virgin Sculptures, Gerald Laing, leaflet, 1999