Catalogue Raisonné. Bilith I, CR269
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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Bilith I
CR 269
Kinkell, Scotland
1970
Steel, stone base
11 x 6 x 25.75 inches
Private collection, M Spens UK
Citations and Comments
I began fabricating the sculpture in order to produce works with a proper and tangible volume. This tranch of work I developed from the earlier ‘Pins’; it was made in answer to the new environment in which I now lived, and refers to the enigmatic prehistoric standing stones which are scattered in the landscape. The first of the group were called ‘Biliths’, composed as they were of two standing components (ref. monoliths). It would have been more accurate to call them ‘Bifers’, since they are made of iron.
, 'Gerald Laing: An Autobiography', unpublished manuscript, 2011, ch.34Catalogue Raisonné Information
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- 1971: Gerald Laing, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, 1971
- Laing Mylius Scobie: Sculpture at Cleish, Cleish Castle, near Kinross, 1975