Untitled [Red Wedge] (1981?)

Arkley’s studio photo (reproduced here), the sole source, is undated but probably dates from c.1981, and seems to show the work in process, with only the central triangle completed in detail. It is unclear whether the work was ever completed, and whether it is extant.

In the absence of further documentation, it is obviously difficult to be sure of the work’s intended final form, but it appears to have been conceived as a large-scale variant of the composition originally developed in Logitex (a hooked rug) (1981) [3/M], Red Wedge [#1] 1981 [W/P], Red Wedge [#2] 1981 [W/P], and Untitled [Red Wedge study] (1981?) [W/P].

The evidence provided by the file photo, featuring the same tiled flooring as in other archive photos of Arkley works dating from around 1981 such as Untitled [Geometric pattern] (1981?), and comparison with other extant canvases from this period, suggests that this was also on canvas, about 160 cm square.

Provenance

• unknown