Lot 526: Richard Killeen Looking is Not Seeing No.3 alkyd

Richard Killeen Looking is Not Seeing No.3 alkyd on 14 aluminium pieces title inscribed, signed and dated 3. '85; title inscribed, signed and dated March 1985 on each panel verso 840 x 590mm approximately per panel, 3000 x 2500mm approximately overall

Killeen's early cut-outs, of which looking is Not Seeing, No.3 is a typical example, are more complex and have more individual pieces than his earlier ones. By the mid-1980s the pieces have become composites, made up of several different images which may or may not relate to the cut-out shape that contains them. Indeed the silhouette of each piece no longer tells us its contents. For example, in this work one piece shows us a small landscape with volcanic hills, a cloud above attached to the hills, and ocean below with swimming whales and fish, none cut out in silhouette. The piece becomes more of a small painting on an aluminium support. The cut-outs are no longer spray painted in one colour to give an abstract unifying effect to the pieces, but are now hand-painted. This makes possible gesture and illusionistic effects of light and shade that had been eliminated in the earlier series. Also, the titles no longer precisely name the subjects contained in the cut-outs. In his cut-outs Killeen helped move painting away from traditional categories such as landscape, still-life or portraiture. Today, over twenty years on, these works retain their fresh, colourful qualities and the experience of looking at them remains a puzzling and pleasant exercise. Michael Dunn