Huddersfield-born Carl Plackman (1943-2004) produced work that combined real and cast objects, drawn and photographed images, to comment on a range of human situations from a broadly romantic and autobiographical point of view.

His work queries and comments on the peculiarities of everyday objects as a legacy of surrealism, with an implied narrative, emphasising the importance of film. His interest in words and how they act in determining visual meaning allows a political and philosophical reading of his work. His influence on a generation of students at Goldsmiths College of Art at the University of London was legendary, and he was also deeply committed to the technical aspects of sculpture, casting, installation and assemblage. This first retrospective exhibition will be accompanied by a colour catalogue, teacher’s resource pack and a series of talks and workshops.

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Collection Artist(s)

Glossary

  • Assemblage

    The use of non-art objects and found materials, often junk and/or debris, to create art works. The disparate elements are 'assembled' by gluing, welding or other techniques. Assemblage can be looked at as the three-dimensional counterpart of collage, and similarly traces its origin to Pablo Picasso's and George Braque’s collaborations in 1912-14. This technique was particularly used in the late 1950s and 1960s and continues to be employed by many contemporary artists today.

  • Cast

    To form material such as molten metal, liquid plaster or liquid plastic into a three-dimensional shape, by pouring into a mould. Also see Lost-wax casting.

  • Film

    A transparent, flexible plastic material, usually of cellulose acetate or polyester, on which light-sensitive emulsion is coated, or on which an image can be formed by various transfer processes.

  • Installation

    An artwork comprised of many and various elements of miscellaneous materials (see mixed media), light and sound, which is conceived for and occupies an entire space, gallery or site. The viewer can often enter or walk around the installation. Installations may only exist as long as they are installed, but can be re-created in different sites. Installation art emerged in the 1960s out of Environmental Art (works of art which are three-dimensional environments), but it was not until the 1970s that the term came into common use and not until the late 1980s that artists started to specialise in this kind of work, creating a genre of ‘Installation Art’. The term can also be applied to the arrangement of selected art works in an exhibition.

  • Sculpture

    A three-dimensional work of art. Such works may be carved, modelled, constructed, or cast. Sculptures can also be described as assemblage, in the round, relief, and made in a huge variety of media. Contemporary practice also includes live elements, as in Gilbert & George 'Living Sculpture' as well as broadcast work, radio or sound sculpture.