MODERN ART: Anthony Caro - Peter Fuller Memorial Lecture / by Laurence Fuller 

MODERN ART chronicles a life- long rivalry between two mavericks of the London art world instigated by the rebellious art critic Peter Fuller, as he cuts his path from the swinging sixties through the collapse of modern art in Thatcher-era Britain, escalating to a crescendo that reveals the purpose of beauty and the preciousness of life. This Award Winning screenplay was adapted from Peter’s writings by his son.

In September 2020 MODERN ART won Best Adapted Screenplay at Burbank International Film Festival - an incredible honor to have Shane Black one of the most successful screenwriters of all time, present me with this award: 

As well as Best Screenplay Award at Bristol Independent Film Festival - 1st Place at Page Turner Screenplay Awards: Adaptation and selected to participate in ScreenCraft Drama, Script Summit, and Scriptation Showcase. These new wins add to our list of 25 competition placements so far this year, with the majority being Finalist or higher. See the full list here: MODERN ART

Coming up to the 30 year Memorial of Peter’s passing, I am posting for free a few of the previous Memorial Lectures by leaders of the art world.

Below is the final Peter Fuller Memorial Lecture, organized by Stephanie Burns and myself under the Peter Fuller Memorial Foundation held at TATE Britain in 2010. In it they discuss my father's relationship with Caro and their heated debates, which played in public and in private.

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MODERN ART: Caro & Fuller Saga III - The Letters
Caro & Fuller Saga II - The Interview
Caro & Fuller Saga II - The Interview

In 1978 my father had his first interview with Anthony Caro, first published in Art Monthly and later in his book Beyond The Crisis In Art. It really does hold up as a fascinating look at both Caro as an artist and Fuller as a critic, the successes and failings of both within their respective mediums and of the limitations of those mediums. The differences between words and images or objects are revealed with all their vulnerabilities and triumphs. Caro's Modernism is put to the test and my father's Romanticism laid bare. The grey area, where they discuss a thing put out into the world and its consequences are fascinating. Should an artist be answerable for the larger questions about the society which he may well be affecting in one way or another, or are they separate because of the signification being a different response for each individual?

The Caro & Fuller Saga i
The Caro & Fuller Saga i

In light of major Caro retrospective currently on at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, I decided to take a look at the fascinating Saga which unfolded between the sculptor and my father, the art critic Peter Fuller, which lasted throughout both their careers and found itself at the core of the cultural debates of the twentieth century, shedding light on where we find ourselves today. Below is the first article I'd like to post on the subject, this will be followed by a number of interviews and correspondences in the final weeks of the Caro retrospective.

Stephanie Burns, Sir Nicholas Serota & Sir Anthony Caro at the Peter Fuller Memorial Foundation Lecture

Stephanie Burns, Sir Nicholas Serota & Sir Anthony Caro at the Peter Fuller Memorial Foundation Lecture