Andrew Lambirth

Collages & Drawings

The acclaimed art critic Andrew Lambirth will be the focus of a new solo exhibition at The Redfern Gallery, his first in London.

Lambirth has spent the past four decades making collages, fascinated by the possibilities of bringing together unrelated, overlooked materials in new and cohesive compositions. Having spent his career writing about art and artists, it is perhaps unsurprising that Lambirth's collages take inspiration from many of his heroes, with various collages made as homages, to the likes of Craigie Aitchison, Sandra Blow and RB Kitaj. In others, Lambirth acknowledges the influence of Roger Hilton and Prunella Clough, especially in regard to the former's treatment of line and the latter's interest in different textures.

But of all the artists, it is perhaps Eileen Agar, described by Lambirth as 'a collagist of supreme achievement', who has exerted the most profound influence. Lambirth first met the artist when helping to write her memoirs, and was gifted a wealth of collage materials by Agar shortly before her death. Much of this material has since found its way into his art. And, while Agar made the surrealist rocks of Ploumanac'h a recurring subject, Lambirth has often returned in his collages to the monoliths of Avebury Stone Circle, a site of comparable mood and mystery. He feels that throughout his work there has been 'constant dialogue' with Agar, and so it is perhaps fitting that these collages are to be unveiled at The Redfern, the gallery that first exhibited Agar's work in 1942, and that has represented her estate for the past three decades.

Despite the wealth of influences, the collages nonetheless retain a life of their own; buoyed by Agar's bold and uncompromising approach to the cutting-up and layering of materials, Lambirth has created his own, very personal collages, which explore colour, line and texture with increasing assurance.