Amar Gallery's love letter to abstract expressionist Lawrence Calcagno is a masterclass in inclusive interdisciplinary curation, writes Victoria Comstock-Kershaw.
Singh holds Taos IV (1972).© The Times/Richard Pohle
“It’s hard to compete with the goliath galleries,” explains Amar Singh to me over Zoom. It’s a sunny Monday afternoon and he is talking to me from his London home ahead of his gallery’s latest exhibition, Lawrence Calcagno: Redux. The show is the late abstract expressionist’s first solo exhibition in the UK, held at Amar Gallery in the heart of Fitzrovia, and is a masterclass in answering the mammoth question facing all London-based galleries: is there still space for the unwritten stories of historically overlooked artists?
Singh's gallery reopened this year with Dora Maar: Behind the Lens, an exceptionally tender show that steadfastly championed Maar’s body of work beyond her status as Picasso’s weeping woman. Redux continues to embody this personal, exploratory spirit by highlighting Calcagno’s fascinating personal life: born in 1913 and a veteran of the second world war, the artist studied in both America and Europe before becoming the lover of black modernist painter Beauford Delaney. “Here he was, this war veteran in 1950s America who was not only openly gay, but in an interracial relationship,” explains Singh. “He also became very good friends with James Baldwin. He was simply so ahead of his time.”
Calcagno’s pariahic status is an important part of understanding his work. However, nowhere does the exhibition fall into fetishism. I have written previously about my exasperation with how various institutional attempts at exhibiting minority artists have left the actual art in the dust, but Singh’s desire to champion minority artists does not overshadow the love of the artworks themselves. Calcagno’s role as an abstract expressionist is at the forefront of the curation, specifically the integration of the West Coast landscape into his pieces and the influence of his teachers Clyfford Still and Mark Rothko (the opening evening was held on Rothko’s birthday). The gallery has partnered with 203 Fine Art in Taos, New Mexico, providing a transatlantic thread that further emphasises the geographical and cultural influences of Calcagno's work.
In his chapter on the impact of Abstract Expressionism during the 1940s and 1950s in Cultural Offensive: America's Impact on British Art Since 1945, John A. Walker places Calcagno firmly within the camp of what he calls ‘abstract impressionists’: mid-century American artists who used their abstract worldscapes as mirrored topographies of their own psyche. It is natural, then, for Calcagno’s work to reflect both the physical and emotional terrains he navigated throughout his life—his bold, abstract compositions are imbued with the inner conflicts and complexities of his identity, while simultaneously evoking the sweeping vistas of the West Coast that shaped his artistic vision.
Installation view © Amar Gallery
This is an element of his work that the show's selection leans heavily into. Taylor Morrison spoke recently about how Rothko uses the space between colours as a visual representation of Zeno’s paradox: spaces where infinity occurs. Calcagno's works function within a distinctly similar framework: the shadowed worlds between the striations of works like Taos IV (1972) feel endlessly deep. Some really delicious framing choices also highlight the naturally filamented strokes of Calcagno’s works, using Twombly-esque canvas outlines as a way to tease out the naturalist environmental undertones of his work. Works like Cosmiscape XII (1976) feature Calcagno’s very firm use of acrylic as a building block from which to extract sharper, more precise linear textures are re-contextualised by the slightly beaten-up frame.
“There are always stories to be told.” explains Singh. The concept of rediscovery is clearly at the heart of the exhibition, and it’s not just in the way the show highlights Calcagno’s social life and societal status. The curation of Redux specifically reflects Singh’s dedication to retelling and reframing overlooked narratives that go beyond the gallery itself.
Singh has mastered the art of expanding the so-called white cube: his immensely entertaining Instagram videos regularly go viral, often featuring cultural hard-hitters from Billy Porter to Martin Campbell. “We are, I believe, one of the only galleries in London to be selling artwork through humour on social media.” Singh notes. But social media isn’t the only way that Singh is blurring the lines between the worlds of artist and audience: earlier this year he produced Maar, Dora, a play written by Nadia Jackson and directed by Spiky Saul at London’s oldest pub theatre Old Red Lion to accompany the surrealist’s show. For Redux, Singh espoused the vibrant Americana of Calcagno’s San Francisco environs with a sultry performance by London-based music and composition collective SOL Collective.
In the post-internet era it’s become more vital than ever for art institutions and audiences alike to find new and exciting ways to connect with art. Singh’s deeply charismatic and multidisciplinary approach to curation and audience engagement is an elegant answer to the complex question of how to keep audiences emotionally connected while expanding historical narrative horizons.
And as for what’s next? “Nobody will believe who the next artist will be when it’s announced.” laughs Singh. And therein lies the beauty of the gallery: daring to surprise and explore, consistently unveiling new and exciting perspectives through interdisciplinary exhibitions that push boundaries and introduce us to artists whose stories are just as compelling and beautiful as their work.
Lawrence Calcagno: Redux is open at Amar Gallery, 12, 14 Whitfield St, London W1T 2RF, from the 26th of September until the 3rd of November.
Victoria Comstock-Kershaw is a London-based critic and contemporary arts writer.
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