POWER LOW

Acrylic paint on carved oak plinth
Dimensions: 94.5cm X 44cm X 28.7cm
Charlie Warde, 2020

Started during my Manifesta Biennial residency and finished in the studio over the winter, this ‘Freestanding Painting’ is based on a section of the demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing scheme in London. As with all the works in this series it is signed with gold aggregates and its dimensions are based upon Le Corbusier’s Modulor Rule. In this case, the dimensions conform to the exact size of PLAYTIME, another ‘Freestanding Painting’. As such, it can be seen as its beaten counterpart. 

The red blood-like paint hints at the use of red oxide paint that was used to prevent exposed iron rebars on Robin Hood Gardens from oxidising further. The same colour can be seen on Deposition (Robin Hood Gardens).

The base is hewn from a oak tree trunk I found in the grounds of White Mountain College. Like all the works on the ‘Freestanding Painting’ series, I utilised genuine building materials for the plinths/bases.