The Lovers

In the early 1960s Mark Boyle had little money. As a consequence he and Joan Hills were 'particuarly attracted to the demolition sites that extended across huge swathes of west London: these provided the raw materials for their assemblages ... (Exhibition catalogue, Boyle Family, Edinburgh, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, August - November 2003, p. 10).' The early constructions by Boyle and Hills incorporated bits of junk including twisted metal and wire as displayed in the present work. They composed these materials within simple wooden box frames and on doors and other pieces of board. The Lovers is seemingly connected with the theme of sexual climax. This and other themes '... were the moments, [Boyle said] when the human mind was completely unselfconscious, when life was not a performance (ibid. p. 11).'