Chip Hughes
September 8 - October 20, 2013
installation images selected works thumbnails
Press Release
In his first solo exhibition, Chip Hughes, (b. 1986) will show ten oil on canvas paintings ranging from moderately small (20x16") to relatively large (48x60"), all created in the last two years. The imagery in these works often has its origins in a transmutation of language, specifically letters of the alphabet, along with sundry graphic sources that act as a foundation. Frequently these starting point elements are mirrored or flopped, thereby becoming under painting or structure. Non-serial, non-systematic, differing from canvas to canvas in form and color, labyrinths of contours and configurations are brought together with a restrained but flowing application of paint.
The title of the show "CHHUIGPHES" is a similar play on linguistic characters using the artist's name, reflecting the process that goes into making the compositions. Small strokes made with small brushes bring about marks resembling stitching, adding up to jewel-toned paintings meeting the eye like woven tapestries. Dense, multi-layered, elaborate without fussiness, there is an intricate nearly hallucinogenic blending of colors in quilt-like patterns akin to hand-loomed fabrics.
This weaving of shades and tones produces a dense mix, partially nodding to pointillism, though the overall effect bears more of a relation to Paul Klee. Manny Farber's well-known oppositional distinction between "termite art" and "white elephant art" in his 1962 Film Culture essay is worth considering, where auteurism and economy of expression devour boundaries, leaving "nothing in its path other than the signs of eager, industrious, unkempt activity." Hughes' varied marks manifest various meanings, with a love of paint wielded in a loose but certainly not gestural manner. These paintings come into being slowly, revealing themselves gradually and thoughtfully for a visually pleasurable, contemplative outcome.