3408 - JOHN McCRACKEN

JOHN McCRACKEN (Berkeley 1934–2011 New York City) Signal. 1991. Polyester resin and wood. Verso signed, dated and titled: McCracken 1991 "SIGNAL". 13.5 × 244 × 19 cm. Provenance: - Galerie Froment & Putman, Paris. - Private collection, Switzerland, acquired at the above gallery in 1991. - Private collection, Switzerland, inherited in 2019. Exhibited: - Paris 1991, John McCracken, Galerie Froment & Putman, 16 May–12 July 1991. - Mouans-Sartoux 1994, Vue du collectionneur, Château de Mouans - Espace de l’Art Concret, 3 September 1994–12 March 1995. The 1991 work ‘Signal’ continues John McCracken’s exploration, begun in the 1960s, of the relationship between painting and sculpture. His starting point was the ‘Planks’, first made in 1966: narrow, monochrome forms that lean between floor and wall and, through their colour and unusual positioning in space, question the traditional separation of the two genres. By the early 1970s, the artist expanded his sculptural vocabulary to include ‘Wall Pieces’ attached directly to the wall, to which the present work also belongs. In ‘Signal’, McCracken applies this central artistic question to an elongated, horizontally mounted form. Viewed from the front, the work appears almost like a narrow strip of colour, while from the side its depth and sculptural quality become apparent. The edge running diagonally across the front interrupts the object’s strict horizontality and, depending on the viewing angle and incidence of light, creates the impression of a tapering form, although the beam does not actually narrow. At the same time, the intense green gives the geometric form a striking ‘signal’ effect and may well have played a part in the choice of title. For McCracken, colour is thus far more than mere surface treatment; it is an essential component of his sculptural design. The apparent simplicity of these forms belies the complexity of their production. McCracken’s works are often made from precisely constructed wooden cores covered with fibreglass and pigmented polyester resin, then sanded in numerous stages and finally polished to a high gloss. This painstaking process produces a flawless surface on which the traces of production largely disappear. This contrast between craftsmanship and seemingly industrial perfection is characteristic of McCracken’s oeuvre.