John Squire defends the power of rust
ANY sculptor knows that ideas, material and raw talent are only three quarters of the ingredients needed to produce an outstanding piece of work.
The other one is nature. But it’s not until we pull up on John Squire’s gravel driveway and see two large steel sculptures rusting away in the early summer sunshine that we get to grips with what ‘the mercy of the elements’ really means.
“I decided to leave them out there in the weather because I like that effect,” John explains. “The components look quite raw, but the weather gives them a uniform look.
“I think it’s healthy to leave an element of chance to the work and take some of it out of your direct control. It just makes it more interesting; it throws up surprises and can take you off on a tangent. And I suppose I look for that.”
Unhinged box
There’s been lots of media discussion of his latest show at Gallery Oldham, Heat, Light, Death and Industry – his first show in the north to be entirely free of any Stone Roses era work – not least because he used one of the distinctive sculptures of an unhinged box to spell out his non-intent to reform his old band.
It was a ‘quickie on Photoshop’, he says, a clear ‘no’ written onto a photograph of one of his pieces. But so well received was it that Christie’s auction house asked him to make the piece for real. “It looks a lot better,” he laughs – as much at the absurdity of the request as the reunion rumours.
His experimental sculptures (“This is the first time I’ve done welding,” he confesses on the lawn, “but I’m pretty pleased with the result.”) will form the centre piece of Heat, Light, Death and Industry, arranged in a room in such a way that invites visitors to walk among them and peer (as CityLife cannot help but do) through their holes and hinges.
But the sculptures are not the only tactile element of the show. Some of John’s canvas pieces are painted on a huge scale, but all of them are made up of many dense layers – some of them ‘invisible’ and only known to the artist himself.
Big house
“It’s quite a daunting prospect because it’s the biggest space I’ve ever been offered,” he smiles, “and from the outset the work’s been getting smaller.
“Now I’m aware of the fact that it’s hard to get rid of a painting that’s six metres long – not many people want them. I haven’t got that many of them but they’re really unwieldy. I mean, we’ve got a big house and I can’t put any of them in ours.
“But I’ve got to say, I did enjoy working on a grand scale and this is a chance to do it again. Not to go crazy but there will be some generously proportioned paintings.”
The central theme of the show is packaging, one that came to him when he unfolded a small box and found its flat shape ‘appealing’.
Inspired by the Holocaust
First developed for a previous exhibition a couple of years back when John made small box maps out of lead and stamped words inspired by the Holocaust into them, the theme influences every piece in the show.
It is, in that sense, probably his most coherent exhibition yet. And despite the size of the sculptures in this show, John plans to tour them around the world after his Oldham exhibition closes.
“I am excited about going to Austria and Japan, and there’s an offer of a show in LA in 2010,” he adds.
“They’ll be more a test of the work on its own rather than an association with me.”
From Tuesday, July 7 until September 12 at Gallery Oldham, Greaves St, Oldham (0161 770 4653). Free (call or visit the gallery for a sales catalogue).
Published: Mon, 06 July, 2009
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