JOHN LATHAM
29 February – 12 April 2008
Opening: 28 February,
6.30pm – 8.30pm
Delaye Saltoun
1st Floor, 11 Savile Row
London, W1S 3PG
http://www.delayesaltoun.com/
A lost collection of fifteen spray-gun paintings by John Latham (1921 – 2006) is to be exhibited publicly for the first time in fifty years. The works, all from the 1950s, will form the inaugural exhibition at Delaye Saltoun, a new London gallery focusing on Post War British and international art. The exhibition is presented in association with the John Latham Estate.
John Latham has become increasingly recognized as one of the most radical and influential British artists of the second half of the 20th century. Belonging to no specific movement, Latham opened a vast range of possibilities to the British avant-garde. He achieved notoriety for his work Still and Chew ( coll. Moma, New York), which involved chewing, spitting and subsequently distilling a seminal book on art theory by the critic Clement Greenberg. His influence on the subsequent generation of artists, from Richard Hamilton to the YBA’s is considerable and he has been consistently acknowledged as a father figure to the current avant-garde.
Latham called his spray-gun paintings ‘process sculpture’. They form the genesis of his later work and define his visual language. As a body of work their radicalism is demonstrated by what is considered to be the first use of the spray-gun in fine art. These paintings led ultimately to the one-second drawings of the 1970s. This exhibition showcases a hugely innovative and significant body of work that is yet to be properly examined.
This collection of 15 paintings was first exhibited in the mid-fifties at the Obelisk Gallery in London. They were subsequently sold at the Six Bells pub in Chelsea in the late 60′s and have not been seen since.
This will be the first London exhibition since Latham’s controversial display at Tate Britain in 2005 and the first since the artist’s death.
Editors’ Notes
Delaye Saltoun
Delaye Saltoun specialises in British and International Art from 1950 to the present day.
Gallery opening times: Wednesday to Friday 11am to 6pm.
Saturday 11am to 3pm.
Nearest Tube: Green Park, Oxford Circus, Piccadilly
