Nicholas Wegner & Vaughan Grylls:
Contemporary Art at The Gallery, London (1974)
artdesigncafé | café library | Published 18 September 2010
This review was previously published in Flash Art October/November 1974 (48/49), p. 37.
At present only a small number of the public find their way to The Gallery—it is not widely advertised and its premises are obscurely located. Even those who are aware of its existence tend to be suspicious of its activities. All in all the enterprise is something of an enigma.
Some background information: The Gallery is directed by two artists, Nicholas Wegner and Vaughan Grylls, and is independently financed. Although the scale of its operations is modest compared to that of the major West End galleries, in seriousness of intent and ambition The Gallery is equal to, if not ahead, of the latter. Over twenty shows have been mounted since The Gallery opened in January 1973.
Anyone who was aware of the special character of The Gallery must have been intrigued by the private view card which announced its June-July show because it listed, in bold white lettering on a black ground, the surnames of eight internationally recognized avant-garde artists plus the words “contemporary art”. The card provoked the question “Is The Gallery claiming to represent these stars of the art circuit?” It seemed unlikely since the eight concerned generally show elsewhere and they certainly do not show as a group. The mystery of the card was solved by the work of art on display: the eight artists were represented pictorially but not in any other sense, i.e. “Contemporary art”, is a large photomural (10’ x 5’ 3") which takes as its subject matter work by the eight artists named on the card who collectively constitute a representative cross section of contemporary art— Minimal, Conceptual, Actions, Body art, Video— hence the title of the piece.
Some description: the photomural has a grid structure which yields eight 2’ x 2’ squares arranged in two rows of four. Each of the featured artists—Carl Andre, Joseph Beuys, Daniel Buren, Joseph Kosuth, Mario Merz, Bruce Nauman, Keith Sonnier, and Lawrence Weiner—is allocated one of the units and they are arranged from left to right in alphabetical order. Each unit contains the name of the artist responsible for the work illustrated and the names of Nicholas Wegner and Vaughan Grylls appear in that corner of the photomural which conventionally contains the artist’s signature.
Nicholas Wegner & Vaughan Grylls - The Gallery: 1 | 2 | 3
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