Configuration #2 by David Gerry Partridge

Provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto

Exhibited:
The New Vision Centre Gallery, London, England, and the Commonwealth Institute Art Gallery, London, July - August 1965, no. 56

Literature:
David Partridge, “David Partridge: Forty Years of Work with a Variety of Nails,” Toronto, 1999, unpaginated manuscript
“Denis Bowen: Painter, Teacher and Promoter of the Avant Garde in Britain”, “The Guardian,” March 31, 2006, News Section

Studying geology and paleontology at the University of Toronto, Partridge’s background undergraduate work gave him a foundation as a developing artist. Early in his career, Partridge studied at Atelier 17 in Paris where he focused on etching and engraving. Carving into the copper and zinc plates to create his works on paper, the plates fascinated the artist as low-relief sculptures in and of themselves. Partridge viewed the similarities between the etched plates and aerial views of topography with the troughed line work creating map-like patterns. Partridge also attributes influences from Hungarian sculptor, Zoltan Kemeny, who created bas-relief sculptures with all manner of scrap metals, including nails, to his own practice.

While renovating and redecorating his home in Ottawa, Partridge happened upon spare wood and nails and was inspired to create his own nail sculptures—now known as “Nailies” but originally titled Configurations by the artist. In his early Configurations, works developed from the idea of topography with varying levels created by the depth of the hammered nails in the organic forms. “Configuration #2” followed this trend of high relief created with the hammered nails and a blue backing in the centre of the composition, perhaps denoting a body of water viewed from above.

“Configuration #2” was exhibited at the New Vision Group Gallery during the summer of 1965, the centre founded by Denis Bowen, a “protagonist in avant-garde European art for more than 50 years.” A celebrated artist and teacher, Bowen’s “equal legacy was his promotion of abstract art and international exchange of ideas...Denis and his colleagues at the NVGG made essential contributions to shaping postwar British art and enabling the emergence of significant trends.” Bowen and the gallery were the first to embrace “internationality in the arts”, inviting exhibitors from 29 countries outside the UK, including Canada.