Page 37 - Studio International - February 1973

New sculpture by Anthony Caro John Elderfield

ANTHONY CARO'S EXHIBITION WAS AT THE KASMIN GALLERY, LONDON, FROM 9 NOVEMBER UNTIL 2 DECEMBER, 1972.

At first sight, Caro's new sculpture seems to do not feel as large as some of the work Caro (shown in New York in 1972) was like this. Its
have turned its back on the sensuous lyricism showed in New York last year. flat planes and girders were 'tabled' up onto two
that has hitherto characterized most of his best Since around 1970 Caro seems to have been trestle-like supports, rendering it too sturdy—for
work. All of the seven recent pieces (four of looking for ways to get his sculpture less the supports were highly regularized — instead
which have been shown at KASMIN'S) have a `playful' in appearance — less fragile; 'harder' of lightening it as Caro's tabling usually does.
bluntness — a soreness, even, at times — that and more resolutely abstract. Up until now, a Its heaviness appeared to deaden it. The current
keeps them very different in mood from that sense of loss has characterized most of these sculpture, however, though still heavy, is heavy
kind of delectable elegance which we think of as attempts. The best work remained the lightest — and physical — in a way far more natural than
Caro's own. They are unpainted; composed of and most agile; and the more abstract it became ever before: in a way that only confirms the
large angular planes and beams. They also the more it seemed pared down — somehow indomitable lyricism of Caro's sensibility
constitute a series : itself a very surprising stripped of detail — and sometimes coming close irrespective of how far he might push his work
departure for Caro. to being very blank and even inert.2 Grant into regions previously inaccessible to lyricist
A series, of course, can mean many different
things. Here, the seven works are clearly not the
duplications of a single form, though all contain
within them variations on a recurring theme. In
most respects, their being a series is of relatively
little importance. It requires some considerable
effort to see how they do in fact all relate —
effort which has more to do with detective than
with aesthetic perception — and when this is
recognized it does not lessen the basic
individuality of each of the pieces. The seven
constitute a series in being generated from one
conception — one medium, even — and this is
worth describing because it gives us a welcome
insight into the very inventiveness of Caro's
procedures. And in one crucial respect the serial
aspect of this work is important : the 'theme' of
these sculptures is varied from one piece to the
next by means of its differing physical placement
in relation to the ground. We see it upright,
inclined, turned sideways, and so on.
Manipulations of this kind seem to epitomize
the new sense of physicality of the sculptures.
The crossed L and T beams which appear in
most of the pieces was the point at which the
series began.1 What is now Straight On was the
first piece to be worked on, but due to technical
difficulties it was abandoned and served as a
maquette for Straight Flush. (Caro's using a
maquette is also new.) The 'wings' were removed
direct from the maquette for the new sculpture,
and the wingless maquette itself rebuilt and
slightly modified to form Straight On. Straight
Run extends the original conception, being a
version of Straight Flush with crossed beams
removed from the pierced, roughly triangular,
hole and with one of the wings radically altered.
These three sculptures are the largest of the
series : all around 79 inches high, with the two
`wall'-like pieces stretching to nearly twice that
in length. Caro has made longer sculpture than
this (Prairie, After Summer and Deep North all
over 19 feet), and higher too (Month of May, for
example), while the Tate's Early One Morning
exceeds the new work in all dimensions. As to
felt dimensions, however — one's sense of facing
very large masses of steel — these feel about as
large as anything Caro has ever done. But they

71