Page 53 - Studio International - October 1966

a railway signal, jutting from a right-angle, or the con-
certina-like base or side diversion to an otherwise flat
panel.
This is best explained by the artist: 'I can't bear sym-
metry. For me everything has to happen on one side. For
that reason I don't like Mondrian and the kind of
geometric, balanced art he has been responsible for.' But
whilst assymmetrical, Adams' work always seeks physical
balance, so that even top-heavy sculptures stand by
themselves.
An element of tension and drama is essential to their
total effect. To describe his aim as 'order, beauty and
harmony', as did the 1962 Venice Biennale catalogue, is
to misunderstand his artistic personality. From the
earliest works his idiom has been based on contrast—
between line and mass, or the frailty of open forms and
the strength of volume; there are always static elements
and rhythmic ones, such as curved linear shapes attached
to uprights, the cuts or 'pleated' details of the screens, or
circular shapes resting in rectilinear frames.
In some of the new works now on show at Gimpel Fils
this contrived dissonance has become more subtle and at
the same time more powerful. One low-lying piece, 11 ft
6 in. long, is based on the relationship of a long, thrusting
arm to a slightly raised arrow-head shape. The result is
curiously questioning, in a heavy ponderous way.
There is a tendency to describe Adams as cold and
classical. I would not underestimate the deep emotional
undertones in his work. There is nothing obviously
expressionist or sentimental; the tension is not grotesque,
and certainly does not arise from surrealistic or literary
connotations. Neither does he rely on the evocative
humanism of Moore or the delicate sensuousness of
Hepworth. One of his characteristics is a seeming weight-
lessness, an elegant lightness almost amounting to charm.
His work is never fussy; it conveys the patient pleasure
of a master craftsman without an over-emphasis on mere
skill.
It could be argued that what is missing from his work is
an element of heroic monumentality, robbing it of the
majestic animism of great sculpture. The forms are not
powerful enough; they do not rise to a mystery greater
than the logic and skill which compose them. These
qualities are more easily found in Adams' gift for archi-
tectural sculpture, which has never been fully exploited
in this country.
He is never satisfied with placing a familiar form in
front of a given architectural mass. His commissions are
always related to the building. This lesson was learned
from one of his earliest, and undoubtedly his finest,
public sculptures, the big concrete relief, 22 metres long,
on the facade of the Municipal Theatre, Gelsenkirchen,
Germany. With four other artists Adams was consulted by
the architects from the beginning and experienced the
excitement of contributing to an artistic unity, a situation
virtually unknown in Britain.
q
Top left Web Development No. 5 1965, bronzed steel, height 14 3/4 in.
Top right Maquette 1966, bronzed steel, 4 1/2 x 3 3/4 in. Middle left Webb
Development No. 3 1965, bronzed steel, height 5 ft 1 1/2 in. Middle
right Trio Maquette, 1966, height 1 ft 9 in. Left Reinforced Concrete
Relief, height 9 ft length 75 ft, Municipal Theatre, Gelsenkirchen,
West Germany.
203