Deacon, Richard
Like many of Richard Deacon's titles, 'Kiss and Tell' arouses immediate curiosity. The three words smack of seduction and then a betrayal of intimacy. One half of the sculpture opens like a gaping mouth, or, as Deacon himself has suggested, like a telescope. This contrasts with the brick-like bulbous section. Like a parasite and host, it is limpet-like in its determination to stick tightly to the other section, and yet threatening to expand into grotesque dimensions which might end up dwarfing the 'mouth' form altogether, this is an inescapably sinister presence.
'Kiss and Tell' is, however, an abstract sculpture and Deacon has welcomed abstraction's ability to generate multiple associations, from technological to organic and from sinister to sensual. He draws attention to the methods of construction, and there is no attempt to hide the screws and dark binding glue that has seeped from the laminated layers.
Richard Cork, 'Richard Deacon: Kiss and Tell', Spotlight from the Arts Council Collection broadsheet, 1993
- Artwork Details: 175 x 233 x 162cm
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- Material description: resin, wood and steel
- Credit line: Acquired with the assistance from The Henry Moore Foundation and the National Art Collections Fund. © the artist
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- Accession number: ACC55/1989