Caro & Fuller Saga II - The Interview / October 20, 2015 by Laurence Fuller

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 / October 6, 2015 by Laurence Fuller

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.

Mother Nature / September 21, 2015 by Laurence Fuller

"You and I are all as much continuous with the physical universe as a wave is continuous with the ocean" - Alan Watts

One of the most important things my mother ever taught me was how to love nature. Reading back on several of my father's essays she may have seen it as her duty. Not how to explain it, but how to feel it.

Radicals On Film: The Intertwining Legacies Of John Ruskin & Peter Fuller / September 21, 2015 by Laurence Fuller

Peter Fuller was like a punch in the guts to the art world from 1969 to 1990, and until his last breath he was a radical. His writings spanned art history, psychology, sociology, aesthetics, biology, and religion, all emanating from his primary fascination with the arts. His ideas were ahead of their time, punctuated throughout with a belief that cultural reformation was possible through art. In this sense he was a radical-conservatist. In his later years, he was heavily influenced by the works of John Ruskin, and in 1987 he founded this magazine, naming it after the series of books by Ruskin entitled Modern Painters. Not only did Fuller emulate the man in naming his magazine, but he named me, his only surviving son, Laurence Ruskin Fuller. My own journey has taken me to Los Angeles, where I live as an actor and filmmaker. Recently, I’ve found myself deep in research for my next project, a screenplay about my father (I like to think of it as the Raging Bull of the art world).

Natkin & Fuller - Artist & Critic / June 8, 2015 by Laurence Fuller

This last week I've been writing scenes between Peter and the artist Robert Natkin. Peter went to live with Natkin in 1976 with his first wife Colette and my Sister Sylvie when she was a baby. He was writing a book about him as well as several articles. I am struck by their interactions, their symbiotic relationship as artist and critic and the intimacy they shared over his paintings. The friendship, and my father's belief in Natkin's work lasted his whole life, which was not always the case. There was something about his work that touched him deeply.

William Tillyer at Bernard Jacobson Gallery / May 6, 2015 by Laurence Fuller

I believe that Tillyer's enticingly beautiful water-colours reunite us with that 'common culture' in a way which does not compromise our Modernity. Beautiful in themselves, true at once to nature and to materials, Tillyer's gentle washes of colour have a wider meaning. They remind us that if we divorce our highest aesthetic emotions and perceptions from the world of nature, we will be more inclined to injure and to exploit the natural world - and indeed, each other - than if we perceive ourselves as being part of it.

Mother & Brother wins "Best Dramatic Short" at Arizona International Film Festival / April 27, 2015 by Laurence Fuller

I'm proud to announce that Mother & Brother has won it's first award "Best Dramatic Short" at Arizona International Film Festival. The film was a labour of love from first time director Dustin Cook. Brilliantly cast by Billy Damota & Dea Vise. And features performances by Clint Napier, Lisa Goodman and myself. Catch a clip from the film here and read about the Q&A and screening night below