Paul Wager's 'The Mask of Anarchy': Northern Grit & Lost Heritage
Dadiani Fine Art has announced a new exhibition of the work of Paul Wager. An experienced and committed artist, Wager's work is tough and uncompromising and has it’s roots in Constructivism and revolutionary ardour.
His work has a seriousness and reality that is refreshing compared to today’s milieu - it may be unfashionable to say this but his work is definitely masculine - it has balls and none the worse for that. His constructed 20 works which use steel armatures are the result of a hands on technique which conjures up thoughts
about engineering and maybe of our now almost lost Northern Industrial Heritage; it is relevant that Paul Wager is very much a Northerner.
His sculptures are always extraordinarily well crafted and show an informed and sensitive approach to
surface and patina. The context of this work shows a challenging and critical mind at work - someone with ‘Weltanschaung’ and doesn’t shrink from expressing his critical view of the status quo through his art.
In a fascinating introduction to the show Michael Sandle RA says:
Paul Wager is one of the very few contemporary artists that I am able to wholeheartedly believe in. I very much
admire his technical ability and I admire his commitment and perseverance in making sculpture that doesn't toe the line of what is considered to be “mainstream” and in the face of living in some isolation . That isolation has been good for his art because there has to be a reason for making art other than climbing up the greasy pole of success that is determined by the Londoncentric Art World of this tight little Isle which is not unlike cultural Stalinism in that the rules are arbitrary but absolute.
I first came across his work when I noticed a large steel sculpture of his which stood out like a beacon of excellence against a backdrop of mostly mediocre work in a sculpture park I happened to be visiting
several years ago. When I was on the exhibition's Committee of the Royal Academy in 2011 I was able to include two of his bronze sculptures from his masterly series of work about the 'Great War' under the rubric “ Reflections in War”.
His 2D work on show at Dadiani Fine Art are painted constructions based on a metal infra-structure; they are tough and exude seriousness and relate to Paul Wager's character i.e his steely determination to do it his way - i.e. the hard way. For me, they are very Northern which I think is a sign of integrity - there would be something wrong with his art if it didn't reflect in some way the environment in which it was produced."
15th April - 31st May
Private view
Thursday 14th April, 7 – 9pm
Dadiani Fine Art
30 Cork Street
London
W1S 3NG
