Flowers Gallery presents William Crozier: Dance of the Living 1961-1974, an exhibition exploring a pivotal period in the artist's career when he left behind the dark pastoral images with which he made his reputation in the late 1950s and, profoundly affected by post-war existentialist philosophy, he challenged himself to create a contemporary image of the human condition through figure and landscape.
Crozier's work during this period drew on many diverse sources, including his memories of the horrific newsreels of World War II, and depictions of the 'danses macabres'. Included in the exhibition are three of the earliest, visceral and confrontational skeletal bust portraits, together with two previously unexhibited large-scale drawings.
In these paintings of the 1960s and early 1970s, Crozier often spoke of his desire for the landscape not to be identified as a specific country or area, but more a traumatised natural environment of the imagination.