Richard Deacon

Kind Of Blue (A), 2001

material: ceramic
dimensions: 149 x 102 x 80cm
acquisition date: 2003
Purchased with assistance from the National Art Collections Fund
© the artist
ACC51/2002

'Kind of Blue (A)' is characteristic of a stage in Richard Deacon's work when he began experimenting with ceramic sculpture. He has said of his ceramics, 'all of them basically begin with a small lump which is pushed, pulled and squeezed, twisted, rolled, poked, carved etc. This is a very different procedure from my normal practice, which is additive, bit by bit'. Named after the 1959 jazz album by Miles Davies, it is the title which connects this sculpture with the outside world. Like all of Deacon's work, however, the title merely hints at a meaning and the work remains an object in its own right over and above a personal expression of an external form or feeling.

Whilst 'Kind of Blue (A)' alludes to everyday forms, a cat's cradle perhaps, its large scale and asymmetry means that it resists complete explanation reminding the viewer of 'something else' but ultimately defying that familiarity. The sculpture also seems to renounce its own materiality, its enlarged form and shiny blue exterior obscuring the technical difficulty of ceramic construction.

Deacon believes that the way an object is made is important for an understanding of its identity and his work is characterised by the manipulation of materials. He is also interested in the way meanings are attached to the work through the spectator's own experience and his work plays with forms that both demand and resist interpretation.