Catalogue Raisonné. Awe Shucks, CR611
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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Awe Shucks
CR 611
Kinkell, Scotland
2004
Oil on canvas
48 x 80 inches
Citations and Comments
His bold lines and bright, unmodulated colours lend themselves well to these images, which constitute a searing critique not only of the Iraq war, but also of U.S. priorities and values and the American Dream. Setting the tone for the exhibition, Awe Shucks (2004) shows at the centre of the composition a pixilated figure of George W. Bush jauntily strolling down a red carpet. The exploding bombs and smouldering buildings all around him - based on video stills from the ‘Shock and Awe’ phase of the invasion - are rendered as mere backdrop to the pomp and ceremony of the scene.
, Gerald Laing at Spike', Art In America, September, 2005- Gerald Laing: From 1963 to the Present, Bourne Fine Art, Edinburgh, 2004
- Gerald Laing: Iraq War Paintings, Kings College, Cambridge, 2005
- Gerald Laing: Iraq War Paintings, Spike Gallery, New York, 2005
- Gerald Laing: Iraq War Paintings, Galerie Salvador, Paris, 2005
- Gerald Laing: Iraq War Paintings, Globe Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne, 2007
- Gerald Laing 1936–2011: A Retrospective, The Fine Art Society, London, 2016
- Awe Shucks