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ANGELA WRIGHT

"COOPERATION-INSTALLATION" - "ART-HOUSE", LEWISHAM WAY, LONDON, SE14
an installation made of paintings
21 Jul 1999 to 14 Aug 1999
.
MAKING THE WORK
Photos: David Carr-Smith / Angela Wright

1 - THE 'MATERIAL'

The painter of the works which temporarily served as the 'raw material' of "Cooperation-Installation" was profoundly autistic, he never spoke and hardly interacted with others. Thus his works had an unusual character which I tried to describe while viewing a small exhibit of them in the anteroom of the gallery.

"Their expressiveness is unassertive, they lack 'self-expression' in the sense of issuing an invitation to notice them, they are unlimited by awareness of taste, aesthetics or art-familiarity, untroubled by self-congratulation or social status - beautiful in a way that nature and chance is (like blown litter that usually exceeds in beauty and order all the intentional objects in a street!). They are made in an state that is self-referential, energetically active without requiring or seeking attention ... thus they add to this island place - colour, activity, a soul-presence, peace!"

[D C-Smith 23-07-1999]

It was these characteristics of his paintings that made it possible to use them as the raw-material (the 'brush-marks') of Angela's definately not unassertive work - a work that inevitably brought them into the attention of anyone attracted by its hugeness, vigour, and emotional expressiveness.


Pic: 9-07-1999 The autistic painter's home work table.	Pic: 15-08-1999 The autistic painter's works in the gallery anteroom.

Pic: 15-08-1999 The autistic painter's works in the gallery anteroom.

Pic: 15-08-1999 The autistic painter's works in the gallery anteroom.

2 - PREPARING THE PAINTINGS FOR THE INSTALLATION

Angela began to sort, familiarise herself with, and clean and seal (with brushed-on PVA) Dean's paintings on the ##st ## 1999. This work in the yard continued through the ## weeks of the hot summer. When she began the work of cleaning and sealing the hundreds of paintings she improvised a work place in a shaded corner beside the old shed.