Peter Lanyon's death in 1964 as a result of a gliding accident has often been seen as symbolising the end of the great era of St Ives art. However, it is possible to see in Lanyon's very last works the emergence of new directions that were afterwards pursued by such painters as Bryan Wynter and Terry Frost (the so-called 'middle generation'). An example is Lanyon's use of fragments of real objects which he incorporated into his expressive brush marks, a development of his earlier practice of making three-dimensional models as 'working constructions' for his paintings.
Echoes of this practice can be seen in the way Bryan Wynter used found objects and pieces of cut-out coloured card to translate his floating coloured brush marks into three-dimensional kinetic works called 'IMOOS' (Images Moving Out Onto Space). Terry Frost experimented with hanging objects, collaged elements and painted sculpture from the late 1950s onwards.
Works of this kind relate the St Ives artists to a widespread exploration of unconventional media in the mid I960s. An important difference, however, was that the St Ives work continued to refer back to painting. Wynter is a good example of this: his kinetic works began as a way of extending a painter's perception of nature and later came to assist him in distilling nature back into two-dimensional form. The beauty of St Ives played a part in publicising the art with which it was associated. The writings of Denys Val Baker, for example, drew attention to the relationship between new art in Cornwall and the unique Cornish heritage and landscape.
From the 1960s onwards, however, it becomes increasingly difficult to associate St Ives with a particular style or art. Since that time hundreds of artists making very diverse work have spent time in west Cornwall. The contacts made in the USA by Heron, Scott, Lanyon and others brought American visitors including Mark Rothko and the critic Clement Greenberg, while a counter-current gave rise to a rejection of the dominance of American art and its critical perceptions.
An important development of the later 1960s centred on younger artists and critics who saw in the flat expanses of American painting the final phase of all possible evolution of that medium. Many of these turned to the possibilities of Conceptual Art, with its exploration of other modes of communication such as photography, text and video, and its emphasis on the ideas presented rather than on the traditional process of artistic creation. This is evident in the projects presented at Tate St Ives.