Catalogue Raisonné. Division, CR280
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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Division
CR 280
Kinkell, Scotland
1971
Paint on steel
720 x 100 x 48 inches
collection of M Spens
Citations and Comments
Division is intended literally to divide the prospect before which it is placed. The downthrust of the central part seeks a sideways relief. In this sense the sculpture is a gesture but it also has figurative forces.
, Sculpture in the Highlands: Landmark and Glenshee, exhibition catalogue, The Landmark Sculpture Park, Carrbridge, 1980, p.8The huge Division of 1971… is another application of two of his ceremonial axe shapes, joined at the head, their 30 foot shafts sailing sideways from their central support, so that in spite of its great size, the piece seems light, almost potentially airborne.
, Laing Mylius Scobie: Sculpture at Cleish, exhibition catalogue, Cleish Castle, near Kinross, 1975, p.9The essentially horizontal character of this sculpture contrasts sharply with the vertical trunks of the pine trees. The structural possibilities of sheet steel are used to dramatic effect. It will be noticed that the splayed ‘legs’ of the sculpture rise a little above the horizontal - to counter our propensity to see a straight projection as a droop. Division presents itself with the taut energy of a gymnast; it bestrides the forest - like a fertility Goddess.
, Sculpture in the Highlands: Landmark and Glenshee, exhibition catalogue, The Landmark Sculpture Park, Carrbridge, 1980, p.8‘The idea of all my abstract sculpture was that it should influence the environment,’ he [Laing] explained. “It was my intention that Division should be placed symbolically in front of something, splitting it into two halves and making a gesture downwards and outwards. Its most arrogant location was when Richard Demarco erected it in front of Hopetoun House, splitting the symmetry of an elegant historic building - but then, it’s a very arrogant sculpture!’ For many years, Division, acquired by Michael Spens, publisher of the art Magazine Studio International, stood amid the remains of the Great Caledonian Pine Forest at Carrbridge where it formed part of the sculpture trail at Landmark Visitor Centre. ‘I lost track of it after that,’ Gerald said. ‘I haven’t seen it for 15 years.’
, 'Divisive Sculptor on the Trail of the Great Detective' Inverness Courier,, 1990Catalogue 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
- Sculpture in the Highlands: Landmark and Glenshee, The Landmark Sculpture Park, Carrbridge, 1980
- Sculpture Exhibition, The Highland Council, Inverness, 1990