The Historical Box

A huge box sits at the centre of this show of work by lesser-known US artists of the ’60s and ’70s. Wally Hedrick’s imposing installation, ‘The War Room’ (1967-2002), is constructed from large canvases bolted together to form a formidable cube. Inside, you are surrounded by textured black surfaces– paintings referred to by the artist as ‘wounded veterans’– originally created in response to the Vietnam War. Hedrick has since re-painted these canvases twice to mark the Gulf and Iraq wars. Unforgiving and thick with poignancy, this imposing historical case displays the dissident direction of this astute group show. (RD)