Allington, Edward
Edward Allington was fascinated by the presence of classical forms in everyday life, such as fragments of artefacts displayed in museums or kitsch reproductions of antiques. His work is full of references to now discredited forms and styles, from baroque and rococo architectural ornaments to identically cast Greek and Egyptian statues. He said: ‘Sculpture is looking at real things by making real things. It is making poetry with solid objects’.
His later work Metropolitan Egypt from the East / of London, 1987 features cast reproductions of museum shop sphinxes, which neatly adorn three columns. While they resemble some ancient ruin, the artist is less concerned with the objects’ actual past than the larger history that they symbolise. Allington advocated a regenerative, circular vision of history, in which ideas and forms return with constantly renewed meanings.
- Artwork Details: 122 x 164 x 135cm
- Edition:
- Material description: Wood, paint, plaster
- Credit line: © the Estate of Edward Allington. Gift of the Estate of Edward Allington, 2019. Image courtesy of Thalia Allington-Wood
- Theme:
- Medium:
- Accession number: ACC26/2019