Page 61 - Studio International - June 1966

The recent work of Michael Ayrton

London commentary by T.G. Rosenthal

At a time when we can talk of the 'Tradition of the New',
at a time when, in art, novelty is almost all, Michael
Ayrton has come to occupy an almost unique place in
modern British art as a painter, sculptor, and draughts-
man who plunders the past and deeply mines mythology,
simultaneously exploiting new techniques and materials
to create works of art wholly modern in appearance
and yet, because of their themes, timeless.
In his recent work Ayrton has concentrated on Daedalus
rather than Icarus. Daedalus the master craftsman,
the archetype of the experimenter using the materials
that come to hand and, by his peculiar genius, turning
them, transforming them into works of art by a single
stroke of the imagination; such a man evokes a natural
response in Ayrton, who can take ears of corn and not
simply incorporate them into a painting like Stele, but
make them an integral part of the picture. Then there is
Daedalus the maze-maker, a man who has sparked off in

Below Right
Triptych Emerging figure 1, 2 and 3 Stele 1965
Strong bronze Acrylic and collage on canvas
Overall size 36 x 49 1/4 x 13 in. 30 x 25 in.