In Plain Sight
14th May, 2024 – 7th July, 2024
Halcyon Gallery
148 New Bond Street
W1S 2TR
In Plain Sight is on view at Halcyon Gallery’s flagship at 148 New Bond Street until July 7, presenting artwork by six artists with a bright, fresh aesthetic and an air of joie de vivre. Their work displays diverse stylistic and technical approaches, from David Hockney’s vivid tulips created on an iPad to Bob Dylan’s energetic portrayal of sunflowers in watercolour and Dominic Harris’s digital flowers in bloom, constantly in a state of flux.
The exhibition celebrates art’s ability to direct its audience to beauty in the everyday. In the words of David Hockney, ‘Pictures influence pictures, but pictures also make us see things that we might not otherwise see’. In Plain Sight invites the viewer to pause and find an appreciation of beauty in the everyday.
Image courtesy of the artist, A Hunter and Halcyon Gallery
A key theme is the representation of flowers. Pedro Paricio, Paul Cummins, Dominic Harris and David Hockney all depict the subject matter in very different ways. Seen in a shared space, these pieces are in dialogue: they compete with one another, highlighting each artists’ distinct vision.
Figure studies is also represented; the immediacy of Bob Dylan’s loose technique is juxtaposed by Paricio’s rhythmical stylisation of the human form. Unlike Dylan, who in these works seems to capture his subject at the very moment of seeing, Paricio is inspired by the great portraits of art history, appropriating motifs, gestures, and expressions, and incorporating them into his unique, contemporary visual language. Pedro Paricio’s series, entitled 9 Portraits, which he painted in 2023, is exhibited for the first time outside his native Canary Islands.
Image courtesy of the artist, A Hunter and Halcyon Gallery
The collection, which the artist himself has defined as “paintings with a pop look, but classic spirit”, was first showcased at the Mapfre Foundation in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in 2023. Paricio transforms expressive moments, represented in portraits by the likes of Pablo Picasso, Mary Cassatt and Artemisia Gentileschi, into lively designs. By removing the faces from the portraits that have inspired him, he removes their individuality, so that the 17th-century portrait becomes a representation of universal humanity.
Image courtesy of the artist, A Hunter and Halcyon Gallery
Ernesto Cánovas’ latest series of monumental paintings will also be on show. This work is his most ambitious to date, manipulating photographs and medium to represent memories which imply an unfolding narrative.
The artworks appear dreamlike, with the hazy subject matter an abstract representation of found materials. On closer inspection, the subject reveals itself, beneath the layers of vinyl and acrylic that have been meticulously built up by hand; figures and objects soon take centre stage.
Paul Cummins MBE, who created the extraordinary installation of ceramic Poppies at the Tower of London (2014), will showcase his unique approach to the representation of flowers both in the medium of painting and sculpture. His sculpture Florian, consists of elaborate handmade porcelain white roses that are woven into an intricate circle, reinforcing the traditional symbol of purity. The complex interplay of shadows evokes the light patterns created by stained glass rose windows in gothic churches: through this sculpture, Cummins completely inverts the concept of a rose window. Cummins’s floral paintings in mixed media on paper are also being exhibited for the first time.
Image courtesy of the artist, A Hunter and Halcyon Gallery
These pieces are conceived from the artist’s studies of his homegrown flowers. He photographs them at every stage of their development. These paintings capture the sublime effect of bloom; their petals dispersing to reveal their full effervescent splendour.
Image courtesy of the artist, A Hunter and Halcyon Gallery
Among the artworks on show by leading digital artist Dominic Harris is a never-before-seen piece which reflects the central narrative of In Plain Sight; the beauty of the everyday. NeoBloom shows constantly blooming flowers, mesmerising in their perpetuality. This new artwork hangs alongside an immersive space which features an interactive environment of digitally hand painted butterflies, entitled Spectrum. These pieces by Harris are being exhibited for the first time.
In Plain Sight opens on the 14th of May, 2024 until the 7th of July, 2024 at Halcyon Gallery
©2024 Halcyon Gallery
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