Sequence of 7 arch-framed portals with horizontal lights facing a centrally located vertical light-line rising from tall stand.
Working photomontage
Martin Griffiths
Sequence of 7 arch-framed portals with horizontal lights facing a centrally located vertical light-line rising from tall stand.
Working photomontage
Martin Griffiths
Cicaden (2006), Pastel and charcoal on paper, 148cm x 260cm
]]> Despite all of the apocalyptic gossip that builds up at the end of each decade, Hans de Wit’s debut in the UK, World Without End, suggests that the world will keep evolving – though its form will not always be completely recognizable, and human fate is not guaranteed (Isis Gallery; January 9 – February 20, 2010). Through two series of charcoal and pastel works on paper, he illustrates a vast, mystic dystopia that stylistically marries the biochemical organisms of H.R. Giger with the magnificent landscapes of J.M.W. Turner. Vigorously gestural charcoal marks swarm across each work atop spectral fields of pastel colour to create scenes that are aesthetically sublime, romantic, and expressionistic. Meticulous details invite us to step closer and observe the works from an intimate distance. As we stand in front of the four Arcanum Arcadia, 2009 panoramic works on paper-which span over eight feet wide- an epic scene that hovers between futuristic and primal, arcadian and apocalyptic, fills our field of vision. The series’ title is historical and mythical, suggesting that these drawings are concerned with expressing knowledge of a fantastical place that is concealed from our current reality. Although de Wit’s works maintain an ambiguity, many of the titles in this series refer to allegorical stories. Ahab, 2009, displayed on the ground floor, gives a literary reference to Moby-Dick and the fate of Captain Ahab of the ship Pequod, who is driven to his own death by his hubristic revenge against the infamous great white whale. De Wit’s Ahab depicts a recumbent dismembered human figure atop a a large beached gonadic form that has been punctured with a multitude of dark harpoons. Littered in the surrounding shallow waters are eggs and fallen birds. In the background. a dramatic dark cloud unfurls across the vivid pastel landscape. As a single scene from the grand dystopia that de Wit illustrates, Ahab is an exemplary account of caution. Also on display are three smaller works from the artist’s Pencil Poems series. Though no less impressive than Arcanum Arcadia, these drawings are devoid of narrative references and convey ambient scenes of a more experimental nature. Pencil Poem #6, 2009, an exceptionally surreal work, appears set at an ocean seabed. Here, a large dark form in the drawing’s upper portion suggests an ocean vessel. Sprouting across the floor, among indistinguishable shells or debris, bizarre life forms feature various bird heads atop curvaceous plant stems. In each of the seven works on display, the paper’s entire surface is screened with tiny pastel marks that create a subtle grid. These marks give the drawings a documentary quality as they allude to de Wit’s intensive working process of transferring and enlarging images from preliminary sketches to the finished works. The enigmatic scenes illustrated throughout World Without End follow the modernist artistic tradition of grappling with anxieties about the coexistence of humanity, rapture and technology. Organic aspects of de Wit’s works are foreign rather than alien; they are a testament to the evolution of technology as it merges with and transforms biology. At times, these engineered organisms appear better suited to thrive, yet to what ends? De Wit, based in Eindhoven, has exhibited widely throughout the Netherlands, yet rarely abroad. In his previous exhibitions, images including architectural fragments optimistically suggested human inhabitants. Here, as both living human forms and their dwellings are absent, the fate of civilization becomes dubitable. Amelia Ishmael, 2010
Storme DeLarverie, Chelsea Hotel (2010)
Silver gelatin print
Alice O'Malley
Out Of The Dross And Into The Age Of Piracy (1981) - detail
Photoprint collage on paper, 390mm x 232mm
Jamie Reid
Añoukïem et Anok In Storm (2009)
Pastel on paper, 210mm x 297mm
David Tibet
Hans de Wit has a new artist book available from RT Books documenting his recent series of extraordinary Pencil Poem drawings in a sequence of fifteen full-colour illustrations. We are very pleased to offer a very limited signed number of these books here.
Hans' recent World Without End exhibition at Isis is also the subject of a first class review by Amelia Ishmael in Art Papers USA, which you can read in full here.
South Elevation of Christopher Wren Library, Cloister, Lincoln Cathedral (2010)
Martin Griffiths
Side-Saddle (2009)
Digital print (edition of 5) after an altered 18th-century copper engraving
41" x 45"
Ruth Marten
May 19th – June19th, 2010
The experience of harmony involves separation – it involves a duality or multiplicity which fuses – while emergence is related to the experience of oneness. If the work truly emerges from its context, and attains contentless emptiness, it may connect the observer to the flow of the dimension beyond the senses, which is more significant than the appearance of the specific work. This is a gift of the space itself, an historic space of contemplation, a gift which lies beyond the wishes of the artist. It is only with a total respect for the space that a truly affirmative transformation can take place – that the space itself can transform the work into an active channel giving positive experiences. The appearance, dimensions and scale of the work are only the by-products. But their resolution is essential. Light will be the only part of the work which is not a by-product, as it is connected directly to the unseen universe – it is the first element.
A mirror framed light-line work would be the first choice for the installation at the Collection Museum in Lincoln, which will run concurrently with the Cathedral installation throughout March 2011. But a mirror framed work could be installed at the Cathedral also.
Front and side elevations of mirror framed light-line work, drawn by engineer Tom Carter
The specifications for this work, which is being developed by Benson Sedgwick Engineering Ltd., Dagenham, are very exacting and are in the vicinity of the absolute limit of stability that a stainless steel work can sustain. A work like this has never been made before, and the final outcome cannot be fully guaranteed. The integrity of the central acrylic light panel cannot permit any material to pass through it. This means that the whole structure has to be held together without any form of bolting, welding or bonding. Through the expertise and ingenuity of engineers Barry Goillau and Tom Carter, remarkable solutions to these challenges have been found – but doubtless there will be further challenges as the project advances.
Engineering Drawing No. 2 – showing clamping structure attached to mirror framed light-line work, by Tom Carter.
To stabilise the long, narrow stainless steel bars they were firstly heat-treated at very high temperatures – to remove dormant tensions. The bars were then machined to exacting specifications by Steve Toby and then from these, he assembled the work provisionally and clamped it in four places to ensure that when the curve of a radius of 152mm is machined on the two front and two back faces of the work, there will be no movement of the narrow bars. The radius needs to be precise and consistent over the full nearly 2m. length, in order to give the correct elongated reflection of the observer at viewing distance. The two curved faces will later be mirror-polished and will frame a nearly 2m. high electrifying yellow light-line. At correct viewing distance, the mirror reflections of the body need to harmonise perfectly with the central perpendicular light-line, which in the reflection will course up and down the central axis of the body.
Engineer Tom Carter in the B&S workshop inspecting the clamping structure for the mirror framed work.
June 24th
Portals: Paintings whose central emptiness the visitor is invited to walk through.
July 13th
All works in the two installations will have either emptiness or transmitted light defining their vertical axes. The two main works will both oppose emptiness to light on their two vertical axes. These characteristics, which emerged from my earlier practice of painting, make me feel that each of these works functions aesthetically as two paintings which oppose one symmetrical experience to another on 90 degree different planes, without one experience confusing the other. The works therefore present two planimetrically viewed ‘faces,’ which each function as a complete and independent experience.
July 15 th and July 19th
Reaction to first full-scale model for the mirrored stainless steel work: the experience of the tall light-line is predictably powerful with an electrifying tension between the intense centrifugal force of the perpendicular yellow light-line in opposition to the centripetal force of the mirror reflections. As the vertical mirrors are flat and set at angles of 8 degrees, they do not give an elongated body reflection. The spherical radius of the mirror reflections in the final work will draw the full height of the viewer’s ‘elongated’ body into the full force of a centripetal and illuminated perpendicularity. This work was made primarily by Gary Scott of The Mill, Old Wood North, Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire, and went through numerous revisions in the making. Further minor revisions to the form were made before Benson and Sedgwick began fabricating the stainless steel work. The experience of the tall pinkish-orange tinted window elevation has exceeded my expectations. Seen against a white background, the soft tinted light gives an affirmative experience of uplift and serenity, while the muted transparency gives a deep centripetal calmness which recalls some of the very late pastel tinted works of Rothko. The feeling of association is somehow very strong, but the difference in formulation shows deep respect to this revered artist.
Ideally the elevation of emptiness should be experienced before the elevation with the vertical light-line, which would mark a progression in meditation from emptiness to light.
July 19th
I will experiment with placing the work against different background values and will gain further reactions to this model.
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Ahab (2009)
Pastel and pencil on paper
150 x 280cm
Ahab (2009)
Pastel and pencil on paper
150 x 280cm
"If You Have Had Ears..." 2009
ca 135cm x 110cm x 110cm
painted steel, concrete, cool neonwire, knitting, Picturevinyl LP, turntable
©Martin Erik Andersen
"stairway to heaven - highway to hell" 2008
Dims variable
Neon wire, knitting, crocheting, steel, silicone, colored spots, papers]]>