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Artworks
Shelagh WAKELY 1932-2011
A box of diamonds, 1973Etching24.9 x 19.4 cm
9 3/4 x 7 5/8 inThe work 'A box of diamonds' (1973) by Shelagh WAKELY (1932–2011), who was raised in Kenya surrounded by ecologists and natural scientists, is a subtle critique on the African diamond...The work 'A box of diamonds' (1973) by Shelagh WAKELY (1932–2011), who was raised in Kenya surrounded by ecologists and natural scientists, is a subtle critique on the African diamond trade as dominated by Western powers.
Wakely was part of the alchemy of the British Sculpture Movement of the 1980s, with fellow artists Richard Deacon, Shirazeh Houshiary, Barry Flanagan and Anish Kapoor, among others. Never underestimating the power of the ephemeral, her works are characterised by tender marks, ghost-like and evanescent, made with a variety of media, most notably organic: from clay to wire, cut silk to gilded fruit, ink on paper to canvas. Yet despite the apparent diversity of her work, her oeuvre circled around a cluster of themes relating to fragility, time, aging and decay, all united by her singular interest in ‘the surface’ – as a shield, a barrier, a sign, a veneer.Exhibitions
Shelagh Wakely: Going Beyond. Shapero Modern, London, (6th October – 23rd October 2015)
