Control: Stephen Willats' Early Work At Raven Row

By Sponsor Last edited 121 months ago
Control: Stephen Willats' Early Work At Raven Row

This is a sponsored article on behalf of Raven Row.

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Control is an exhibition of the eclectic, conceptual art created by London artist Stephen Willats in the 1960s.

This is the first survey of Willats' early work which embraced the transdisciplinarity and new ideas of the time. He brought an interest in cybernetics, social interaction and design to the creation of pioneering works in a range of mediums.

Furniture and geometric clothing is on show alongside his earliest sculptural series and copies of Control, the art magazine Willats founded in 1965 and which he still edits and publishes today. Works on paper use bold patterns, architectural graphics and constructivist geometries.

His large-scale light works are exhibited in an atmospheric darkened maze – as they were originally displayed at the Museum of Modern Art Oxford in 1968 – an environment that might make it possible to explore the effects of colour and subliminal advertising on the human psyche.

This show is a multi-sensory journey through the early years of an artist who continues to question reality, art and contemporary society.

Control. Stephen Willats. Work 1962-69. is at Raven Row, 56 Artillery Lane E1 7LS until 30 March 2014. Free entry. Open Tuesday to Sunday.

All photographs: Marcus J. Leith

Last Updated 06 February 2014