Battersea Hyphen

- Battersea Hyphen
1977
pencil, watercolor on paper; stamped
29,5 × 41,7 cm

Paul Neagu’s display drawings reflect his sculptural approach, which is linked to his performative gestures that extended into space. Possible suggestions for an exhibition display are what these drawings are intended to represent. In them, Neagu’s “Hyphen” plays an important role as an artistic tool situated between object and sculpture in accordance with the respective spatial parameters. The “Hyphen” defines the space and how it relates to aspects of the surrounding environment such as nature, objects, or the wall. Neagu himself always maintained a critical stance toward sculpture and space. In 1988, he stated that “the art-power of a sculpture increases in direct proportion to its laconic expression. Like in other visual arts, the economy and efficiency of sculptural grip depend on the successful use of limitational space.”¹ There thus exist certain restrictions that determine the environmental context of sculptural representation. And for Neagu, this context then determines a precise relationship within which objects and performative actions are situated. This conflictual relationship with the limitations that space imposes means that “maximizing sculpture’s space should mean concentration, tautness of form, stern definition, and sharp focus rather than physical expansion.” Neagu exerted full concentration and maximum energy to turn his spatial drawings into possible exhibition scenarios. And in his reflections on sculpture, Neagu referred to fellow countryman Constantin Brâncuși, whose “Endless Column” he considered “fulcrum and compass. Its physicalness betrays ordinary perception, instead offering a meta-poetic angle.” Neagu’s “Hyphen” constellations and display drawings stem from this sculptural approach, challenging the perceptions of space and—from various perspectives—triggering a transformation of conventional ways of seeing. W.S.

1
"Deep Space and Solid Time." Edinburgh: The Scottish Sculpture Trust, 1988.