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| The Laing The Laing exhibition was a valuable opportunity at a pivotal point in the development of Duffy's abstracts. By 1988 his semi-figurative works had become semi-abstract and in continued reduction towards the pure abstract potential of line, form and colour. When offered a large scale show at the Laing he seized the opportunity to exhibit his new abstracts. Mike Collier of the Laing Art Gallery and Museum wrote of Duffy in 1989: "Terry Duffy is a rare individual. He is both an innovative artist and teacher. He believes in the value of genuine creative activity and in his teaching and his art he is uncompromising in his confident handling of visual experimentation. What gives both his work and his teaching its quality is his view that experimentation should be allied to a sound visual knowledge of the history and craft of modern art, and that art does not exist in a social vacuum, but is a part of life. With this realistic and unpretentious approach he has developed ways of sharing the joy, anxiety and passion of his art with artist and non artist alike, especially through the format of the art game. Alongside the creative side to his character, he is also a pragmatist and an opportunist. It is this combination that has enabled him, over recent years, to develop and expand the faculty of Art and Design at Liverpool, of which he is the head, at a time when many similar departments in other British cities are being cut back or abolished altogether. During this period he has also established a series of thriving studios and workshops for struggling artists and designers in the centre of Liverpool which is now the British Art and Design Association, a registered charity. Through these activities, he has been able to raise considerable support for the visual arts in Liverpool by confidently asserting the value of experimentation, creativity and craft within the community. This strength of character, allied to a restless creativity, constantly reasserts itself in his work as he plays with the visual language of modern art and reflects upon the social and spiritual sides of human nature. His art is daring. Time and again he appears on the verge of consolidating a fruitful and energetic period of production when, unsettled and unsatisfied with his work, he takes another shift in a new direction. There is also humour in his paintings and drawings, giving them a greater depth and range of expression. It is precisely the combination of pragmatist, observer and innovator that gives Terry Duffy's work its humanity. This exhibition comes at an important time in Duffy's artistic career. The last eighteen months appear to have brought about a synthesis. His varied output of the last 15 years begins to make sense as a whole body of work, rather than a series of disparate, unrelated exercises in visual language. His work now resonates, it no longer illustrates."
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