Jamb

Jamb

Anton Parsons became well-known for his large, well-crafted sculptural pieces, many of which incorporate letters of the alphabet, giant pencils, braille dots and other allusions to writing, text and language. He also deals with ideas about the language of abstract art.

'Jamb' consists of a metal frame which fits snugly into a doorway. From its top are suspended wide PVC strips in bright translucent reddish-pink. It closely resembles the door screens found in cool store entrances. However, it is also designed to look like an abstract painting from the North American-based internationalist school. Such paintings deliberately avoided references beyond the formal qualities of the work itself and promoted the idea of a universal art language. Parsons' sculpture, however, contains very specific references to our everyday world and New Zealanders are likely to recognise regional references to our meat export industry and to the beer-laden cool rooms common in liquor stores.