Thursday 3 January 2013

208 LYNN SEYMOUR by ANDREW LOGAN


Copper sheet and glass set in resin, 97 in. (2465 mm) high, Photograph © National Portrait Gallery, London
Poetry of Motion
 This image is not exactly what you see in the gallery, because the work is suspended from the ceiling high enough the viewer's head. In fact, the first glimpse is disturbing: the sculpture swings slightly as people walking round the room disturb the air. You look up and see a sharp 3 dimensional cubist depiction of a dancer, her body scooped out, her head, hands and feet making their way through the frozen folds of her hollow robe. Just who is hanging there and why?

The answer is Lynn Seymour, a distinguished actress-ballet dancer, who joined the Royal Ballet in 1959. Her dramatic gifts were the inspiration for many leading roles is such productions as Romeo and Juliet in 1965,  Anastasia in 1971 and The Two Pigeons in 1961. She left the Company in 1979 to become Ballet Director for the Bavarian State Opera.

The intention of the National Portrait Gallery in their current exhibition Poetry of Motion is to show works where artists have tackled the problem of  depicting the moving body by experimenting with new forms and new media. The hope is that a non-conventional approach captures something of the grace and vigour of their subjects, be they athletes or Olympians, dancers or choreographers.

The artist Andrew Logan is said to belong  to a unique school of English eccentrics,  challenging convention, mixing media and playing with accepted artistic values.On his web site he writes ' My reason for living is to give enjoyment and pleasure to others through quirky, humorous and extravagant mementos. I hope you will find the same pleasure and enjoyment when visiting this site'.

He said of Lynn Seymour '(she) flies, she does not dance'.
npg.org.uk
http://andrewlogan.com/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4705376/Lynns-dance-to-the-music-of-time.html -.



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