Richard Long: Circle to Circle

Richard Long Lisson Gallery

A large new floor-based stone circle, Flint Wheel (2018) is at the centre of Richard Long’s latest exhibition in London, ‘Circle to Circle, which is loosely themed around different uses of the circular motif across his practice. Constructed from knapped or split Norfolk flint, the stones radiate out from a central nexus like spokes on a wheel, alternating in tone between the chalky white exterior and each flint’s darker core. This geometric, starburst pattern refers back to previous works by Long, such as Paddy-Field Chaff Circle (2003), a temporary circle of radial lines made on Warli tribal land in the Maharastra district of India, while the sculpture’s material relates to a recent flint and slate circle, North South East West (2017) made for his major exhibition at Houghton Hall last year.

Echoing this will be a new River Avon crescent mud work, created by the artist directly onto the wall at the gallery. A round shape, this work will be bisected by a sweep of marks tracking Long’s gestural movements as he applies viscous mud to the surface with the resultant splashes and drips appearing below. A text work, titled From Circle to Circle From Space to Earth (2002) made after a continuous walk of 39 miles from a full moonrise to the sunrise, is also a poetic description of one night in the planet’s constant state of revolution.

Just as Long’s work obliquely references ancient symbols, beliefs and superstitions surrounding sacred sites and stone circles, it also reflects the occurrence of shapes and forms in nature, at both the macro- and the microscopic level. In a recent photographic work, Circle in the Amazon, Brazil (2016) Long arranged palm leaves into a circular mound, leaving only a gentle imprint in the chaotic fabric of the jungle.

Duration 11 May 2018 - 23 June 2018
Times Monday - Friday: 10:00am - 6:00pm Saturday: 11:00am - 5:00pm
Cost Free
Venue Lisson Gallery (27 Bell St)
Address 27 Bell Street, London, NW1 5BY
Contact 4402077242739 / contact@lissongallery.com / www.lissongallery.com

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