Page 91 - Studio International - November December 1975

the Lisson Gallery, accompanied by several drawings for objects as developed and used forms, direct and
further projects, some already realized. Judd, of course unequivocal, often anonymous and presented without
used plywood in some of the early paintings and reliefs. ambiguity. In this present show, the artist continues to
He returned to the use of the material in 1972, since develop his sculpture with the same salient
when several pieces have been constructed in both New characteristics.
York and at the Lisson, who showed three last year. This
was the first time Judd had used plywood in constructing
wall-pieces, which he has been making since 1963.
Since then the stacks and progressions have been
developed in a variety of materials, including galvanized The Lucy Milton Gallery,
iron, aluminium, plexiglass, steel, copper and brass.
Both installations at the Lisson comprised six equal 1971-1975
units, partially-open boxes measuring two feet across,
one foot high and fourteen inches deep. Each unit was
closed off by a recessed plane inset to the rebated sides of
the box, ¾ inch from the wall in the upstairs gallery, and Norman Dilworth
eight inches back into the boxes downstairs. The top
plane, as Judd stipulates, was 62 inches from the floor,
Lucy Milton Gallery, 10 - 30 September
which keeps that surface visible and the sculpture from
flattening on the wall. The inch ply is used for its
standard, neutral properties, and these essential Reviewed by Clive Phillpot
qualities aren't manipulated or transformed. A minor
complaint with these pieces is that the natural markings Lucy Milton has had to close down her gallery at Notting
of the plywood tend to have an in-built scale, and Hill Gate. Her last exhibition was of works by Norman
consequently draw attention to the reduced surface. Dilworth, and a series of computer drawings by
The sculptures displayed the plain, matter-of-fact order Struycken.
characteristic of all Judd's work. The complexity of The gallery opened in October 1971 and had a life of
schemes such as inverse natural numbers or the exactly four years. Lucy Milton had previously run a
Fibonacci system, common to many of the earlier gallery outside London in which she showed principally
progressions, is never obtrusive. Their use and function local artists who were working in a variety of styles.
resides, as Judd has said, in 'local order, just an However during this period she had been discovering the
arrangement, barely order at all'. In the upstairs gallery the work of certain artists on the European mainland who
complete lengths of three walls were divided were either not well known, or had infrequently exhibited,
hypothetically into halves, thirds, and fourths in Britain. Two such personal discoveries were
respectively. The units were centred on each dividing line. Schoonhoven and Morellet. Her enthusiasm for
The installation downstairs dealt more directly with the Schoonhoven's work led her to make it the subject of her
architectural features of the gallery. These divide the first exhibition at Notting Hill ; by this act she effectively
room into six sections of unbroken wall-space. The units nailed her colours to the mast. During the first year,
were centrally placed on each section. Aside from those however, several of the subsequent shows had little
aspects already mentioned, Judd's substantial affinity with this first exhibition, other than that they were
investigation into the use of the box-form for his of abstract art, but even in this short time she showed
sculpture has included floor/wall placement ; open/ work by Bonies, Jeffrey Steele, Richard Allen, Morellet
closed volume ; parallel/angled planes ; and interior/ and Reusch. Her gallery was soon frequented by artists
exterior articulation. A further aspect was the complex associated with the British Systems group who came first
visual juxtaposition of the units downstairs. Two of the to see the work of such artists as Schoonhoven and
units, one next to a window and another set in close Morellet, and then to exhibit their own work both
proximity on the adjacent wall, seemed compressed into collectively and individually.
a corner, while another occupied a more open expanse Kinetic art was one of the tendencies fostered for a time
on a wall the width of the room. Most of Judd's recent in the early phase of the gallery's existence. But art
work has been made to fit a prescribed space. Its removal, that was static, and more particularly, systematic, whether
as Judd has remarked on a piece returned to his studio, paintings, reliefs or constructions, became the gallery's
makes 'another sculpture'. The reference to an individual stock in trade, as Lucy Milton began to recognize the
space is explicit. In the Lisson piece this relationship coherence of her own interests. In the second and
evoked particular sensations, difficult to describe. subsequent years, when she had clearly defined for herself
Judd's writings, to be published shortly and less and her public just what kind of art she wished to promote,
polemical than is commonly supposed, are rather a she gave one-man shows to Malcolm Hughes, Staakman,
demonstration of the artist's finely-judged and incisive Cortier, Allen Barker, Visser, Ad Dekkers, Norman
sense of observation. Included in these writings are Dilworth, Von Graevenitz, Jeffrey Steele, Schuler,
several exhibition reviews of primitive art and early Michael Kidner, Herman De Vries, Terence Pope, Ewerdt
oriental sculpture. It's curious that no-one has discussed Hilgemann, David Saunders, Megert, Herdeg, Magnoni
the relationship between this traditional art and Judd's and Peter Lowe. Also represented in short shows were
own concerns. In his writings, Judd acknowledges these Baljeu, Wilmink, Allsop, Clark, Pratt, Park, Tebby,
Zwing, Hellyer, Masters, Plank and others.
Some of the European artists were shown at the gallery
as a result of exchanges with continental galleries ; this
meant that the British artists who were associated with
the gallery (though not formally or under contract) were in
turn given the opportunity of exhibiting abroad. While
Lucy Milton wished to show well-established but
infrequently seen artists, it was also her policy to give
opportunities to young artists. Some were shown simply
as a result of their having brought work to the gallery for
perusal, while others were brought to her notice by other
artists. But most were shown because she was familiar
with their work and wished to bring it before the public.
The location of the gallery was chosen with a view
to making links with the local community, there being
practically no other galleries in the immediate vicinity, but
this never really happened. Schoolchildren, attracted
particularly by kinetic art, sometimes actually queued up
Don Judd Untitled 1 975 (upstairs gallery at the Lisson) to get in the gallery, and some became regular visitors, but
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