LONDON.- Pangolin London are presenting a museum-quality exhibition of carefully selected work by Lynn Chadwick, exploring the subliminal influences that inspired this giant of twentieth century sculpture through the decades.

Lynn Chadwick is a leading figure in the history of British and European sculpture in the mid and late 20th century. Often misunderstood as not being ‘in touch’, this exhibition exposes how many of the major events of the 20th century affected and were explored by Chadwick.

Indeed Chadwick’s frame of reference came from a wide range of sources - from ancient to contemporary art, nature to behavioural science, and fashion to architecture. This exhibition highlights how throughout the six decades of his career, Chadwick would often change and adapt his work responding to the zeitgeist of the time.

Whilst Chadwick consistently resisted talking about his works in terms of any direct influences or inspiration, the close working relationship and friendship of Pangolin Directors Claude Koenig and Rungwe Kingdon combined with extensive research has resulted in a unique exhibition that offers a revolutionary way of exploring Chadwick’s work through the images he may have seen and digested. Rungwe Kingdon says:

It is impossible not to associate the change in Lynn’s work to his movements and visual experiences of the world. These subliminal influences are not only apparent in Lynn’s work but were also in the minds of the public at the time; their responses to the novelty of Chadwick’s art derived from the same original imagery.

Pangolin London hope this exhibition will be seen as a prelude to what should be a major museum show. It will be followed by a beautifully illustrated publication published by Pangolin in Spring 2022.

A number of themes are explored in the exhibition that can be linked to influences in Lynn Chadwick’s work ranging from Paleolithic art to contemporary events such as the Sputnik crisis. To give a flavour we discuss a few of them here:




ANCIENT ART

The extraordinary discovery of the Lascaux Caves in September 1940 led The Arts Council in London to welcome one of the first exhibitions of Palaeolithic art in 1954 which displayed the drawings by Abbé Breuil. There were very few representations of human beings in the works, but those that appeared represented bird-headed men engaged in hunting. The show was attended by more than 15,000 people, and it was around this time that Chadwick started creating figures with beaks and bird-shaped heads, such as Conjunction, 1953 or Two Dancing Figures III, 1954.

ARCHITECTURE

Chadwick’s creative process was also strongly influenced by his early experience working as an architectural draftsman for the Modernist architects of 1930s Britain. He took great inspiration from Rodney Thomas, Ernő Goldfinger and Le Corbusier, whose interests in contemporary European architecture and design had a significant effect on the construction of his sculpture and sometimes even gently mocked their utopian visions. For example Chadwick’s Tower of Babel I, 1963 is constructed of a bulky geometric form raised on slender legs, alluding to the pilotis first introduced by Le Corbusier and widely used by the architects of the time.

FLIGHT

Serving as a pilot in the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy during World War II, Chadwick flew Swordfish aircraft made of thin layers of metal braced by frames, much like his sculptures. He had a fascination for flight and wings, and was particularly interested in the dare-devil aviation pioneers known as the ‘birdmen’ Leo Valentin and Clem Sohn. Indeed, Chadwick developed his dancing figures of the mid 1950s by adding bat-like wings poised on tapered legs. When Chadwick attended the opening of London’s Gatwick Airport in 1936, Sohn spun out of control and ended up severely injured. Both Valentin and Sohn tragically died in flight, under the age of 40. Their images were celebrated all over the world inspired many other artists and musicians including César, Elisabeth Frink and The Beatles to name a few.

CONTEMPORARY CULTURE

The popular fashion trends of the time also feature in Chadwick’s work. Teddy Boy and Girl II references the flamboyant fashion of the ‘teddy boy’ subculture of the 1950s, including drainpipe trousers and pleated coats. The male partner, chunky and rectangular in form, with arms upraised, is set against the elegant, elongated pyramidal shape of the female partner.

Michael Bird has argued that this was “probably the first sculptural celebration of contemporary youth culture” (Bird 2014, p.12). As the Teddy Boys were perceived to be violent, Bird argues that in choosing the title, Chadwick was being provocative: “Teddy Boys, who with their girls could be found loitering, with actual or imagined intent, on the provincial streets of Stroud and Gloucester as in London or Brighton, brought out the bourgeoisie-baiter in Chadwick. He selected his title to this end” (Bird 2014, p.78).