.......REMAKE / REMODEL........

......One of the nice things about living out in France for five weeks or so at a time is that you realise that you can live independently of the t.v / papers / radio and can avoid being drip fed what is mostly background noise........On the downside , however , sometimes more important stuff can pass you by......... 

What I hadn't realised , until I was reading one of those ' Who Have Passed On This Year ' lists beloved of newspapers around this time , was that Richard Hamilton had died last September.

I had first come across his work when I went to Art College in the mid-sixties , so his iconic work ' Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different , So Appealing ? ' would only have been ten years or so old at that time and still cutting edge, at a time when a lot of ' Pop Art ' was still being painted , still being produced . His work was profoundly influential , particularly at that time when he was head of Fine Art at Newcastle . I can certainly remember visiting the Robert Fraser Gallery in 65/66 when his suite of works based on the Guggenheim Museum in NY was on display , and I think what stood out then - and has always stood out - is that he always refused to be pigeon-holed , categorised , into any one style.

Within the system , be it educational or the big wide world , there is always a suggestion that you as a practising designer should ' find your style ' . Richard Hamilton refused to - all his works are quite different , yet there is always something resolutely / recognisably ' Richard Hamilton ' about them.

 

In 1966 Hamilton curated the Marcel Duchamp at the Tate Gallery , and painstakingly recreated Duchamp's  ' Large Glass ' for the exhibition  - assisted as legend would have it by Brian Ferry , who was studying at that time under Hamilton at Newcastle and whose later works would include ' Remake / Remodel ' with Roxy Music and his own album ' The Bride Stripped Bare '.......again , I visited the exhibition and was more than intrigued by the ' Large Glass ' , a work I had first encountered in ' The Bride and The Batchelors ' by Calvin Tomkins.

For a full appreciation of his life and his work check out his obituary at

www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/sep/13/richard-hamilton-artist-dies

...........and have a good look at some of his work - it's worth it......' Towards A Definitve Statement On The Coming Trends In Mens' Wear And Accessories ' for example...