Boyle Family

Artist's Studio
Dolan Maxwell, New York
Private Collection

There are two small losses to the upper right corner and some very minor wear to a few places about the edges. Otherwise the work appears in excellent overall condition. Unframed. Please contact the department on 0207 293 6424 if you have any questions about the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Mark Boyle and Joan Hills were already building a reputation in the artistic counter-culture of the 1960s with assemblages, light shows and happenings when in 1965 they began to make a series of relief sculptures based on randomly chosen sites around Shepherd's Bush (having acquired a large map of the area, friends were invited to throw darts at it). The sites thus chosen were reproduced with painstaking accuracy, and the uncanny realism made the transfer of the un-regarded everyday surface beneath our feet to art image quite unlike anything being produced at the time. Some of the earliest Shepherd's Bush studies, along with others produced on the Thames foreshore at Hammersmith, were exhibited at Indica, the short-lived but influential gallery run by Barry Miles and John Dunbar. From these roots have grown the ongoing series of works which have documented sites across the globe. 

Although always collaborative (the Boyle children Sebastian and Georgia were involved from their earliest days), works were initially exhibited as Mark Boyle until 1985 when they officially became Boyle Family. 

Never giving details of their working methods to avoid distraction, Boyle Family's approach to their art is one that emphasises simplified and non-judgmental presentation and allows the viewer a free hand to observe.