Widdow Wadman Piroette

Three dominant bands of white and grey industrial off-cuts have been layered with an eclectic range of found materials, including a mirrored compact disc, in this shallow relief. Carefully balanced relationships between the different surfaces, tones and forms of the assembled elements have been enhanced with areas of black paint, creating a tight composition. Widdow Wadman Piroette is attributed to Achill Redo, an alias created by the artist Anthony Hill in 1973.

Achill Redo exhibited collages and assemblages from the 1980s onwards, inspired by a longstanding interest in Dada and Surrealism. [1] This created a distinction between these works and the abstract geometric constructed reliefs and prints for which Hill was well known. However, he recognised them as related strands of his expansive creative practice:

‘If I am introduced to someone as being both a Dadaist and Constructivist I don’t have any objections. But making constructivist type works doesn’t mean that I am a signatory or member of any constructivist outfit. Likewise with Dada: I don’t do Redos in order to get labelled Dada, nor are Redos done in the shadow of Dada. Redos are Formalist, although in a different way from the constructive works I make.’ [2]

Michael Morris collected works by Hill/Redo from the 1950s onwards. He maintained a consistent dialogue with the artist, based on their shared fascination with mathematical codes and grammatical riddles. Although they continued to correspond into the 2000s, Widdow Wadman Piroette is the most contemporary work by Hill/Redo that Morris acquired.

Lisa Newby, 2021

[1] Achill Redo exhibited in London at the Knoedler (Kasmin) Gallery in 1980, at Angela Flowers Gallery in 1983 and 1989, and at the Mayor Gallery in 1994.

[2] Achill Redo, Redo Times: Francisaviour Redo’s Show Botch the Wordie, exh. cat. (London: Angela Flowers Gallery, 1989), pp.7-8