British Constructivists

The British Constructivists, or Constructionist Group, were an informal circle - Victor Pasmore, Kenneth and Mary Martin, Anthony Hill, Adrian Heath and Robert Adams at its core - who dominated British abstract art in the 1950s. Their ten London exhibitions of 1951-55, weekend shows at Fitzroy Street, broadsheets and books argued for an art 'constructed from within': non-figurative work built up of clear geometric relations rather than abstracted from nature. Mary Martin described the method as nuclear - a single cell grown by a logical process until the whole, unforeseen result appears. Working in reliefs, constructions and mobiles of metal, wood and plastic, and sharing a conviction that art belonged in the built environment, they paved the way for the Systems Group before the circle wound down in the 1960s.

Defining characteristics

• Non-figurative geometry: balanced relations of clear, precise forms
• Work grown from a single unit through an ordered, serial process
• Constructed reliefs and objects in industrial materials (metal, plastic, plywood)
• Hard-edged, unmodulated color and flat, precise surfaces
• Close collaboration with architects; sculpture conceived for the built environment

Key figures

• Victor Pasmore (1908-1998) — Leading figure; abandoned figurative painting for abstract construction in 1948
• Kenneth Martin (1905-1984) — Builder of serial constructions and mobiles; influential teacher
• Mary Martin (1907-1969) — Maker of modular reliefs grown from a single cell
• Anthony Hill (1930-2020) — Youngest core member; theorist of concrete art
• Adrian Heath (1920-1992) — Organizer of the group's early exhibitions

Sources

• British Constructivists - Wikipedia encyclopedia

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