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Stephen Newton's recent works stand like transformers, machine men from a bygone era, once capable of expansion, but now frozen in time. There is a feeling of urban decay about this work. The antique war machine has ground to a halt, but beware, remember its deadly history and its potential for rebirth.
The exhibition consists of some eleven sculptures and four drawings. In the sculptures Newton has combined two dissimilar materials, wood and metal, to produce works with titles such as Rough Link, Nexus, and Equanimity. The titles allude to the way the materials connect, whether brutally or smoothly. The angular pieces of timber which have been collected from demolition yards have long ago foregone their status as trees. Newton has taken their metamorphosis a step further by pinning them with steel bolts and bands and forcing them to function in a machine-like unison. He has covered the steel links and timber with a bituminous brown which attempts to unify the colour of the structures.
In Equanimity II, two gigantic unfolding arms are attached to a vertical timber column. As the arms have expanded, they have moved through the neutral space around them, and reacted with it. The space of the gallery has taken on a dangerous potential. While traditionally many sculptures invite touch, Equanimity II suggests a need for keeping one's distance. The two arm-like structures attached to the vertical column are reminiscent of the human form, not unlike a body builder flexing his muscles.
The strength of the sculptures in this exhibition lies in the way the forms are seen to expand like machines and react with the space they inhabit, while at the