Tim Noble and Sue Webster - Metal Sculptures

Metal Sculptures

‘The Crack’, 2004 (right), is one in a series of welded metal sculptures which appear at first glance as abstract works in the tradition of David Smith and Anthony Caro, while they actually work to reverse this abstraction into figuration.

‘The Crack’, a vertical column-like form, is possibly the most difficult of the artists’ shadow works to decipher. Instead of focusing on the usual black silhouettes cast on the wall, the viewer must instead focus on the white space around the shadow, which reveals the naked bodies of the artists facing each other. This perceptual challenge brings to mind Ernst Gombrich’s discussion of perception in his famous 1960 book, ‘Art and Illusion’. ‘The Crack’ displays at one moment an abstract shape that is perhaps reminiscent of a heroic mountain landscape by Clifford Still, with its cracks and gullies; gradually we begin to perceive the full-length naked profiles of our friends approaching each other, nipples touching, as though they are about to make love again for the millionth time.’’