Max Hymes
dal 6/11/2008 al 10/1/2009
Segnalato da
6/11/2008
Max Hymes
Houldsworth Gallery, London
Crystal Mountain. Hymes' meticulously crafted sculptures, sitting atop plinths and hanging from the ceilings, use a diverse range of materials from beads, ceramics, wicker, and gold leaf to sticks, masks and ropes. These constructions and works on paper, drawing on imagery from the natural world and ancient African cultures, convey a glorious celebratory status or sense of idolatry.
Pippy Houldsworth is delighted to have taken on representation of Max Hymes, and to present Crystal Mountain, a solo exhibition of his new sculptures and drawings from 7 November 2008 to 10 January 2009.
Hymes' meticulously crafted sculptures, sitting atop plinths and hanging from the ceilings, use a diverse range of materials from beads, ceramics, wicker, and gold leaf to sticks, masks and ropes. These constructions and works on paper, drawing on imagery from the natural world and ancient African cultures, convey a glorious celebratory status or sense of idolatry.
Bird, beast, flora and fauna inform the work to create a stylized and affluent visual language. Hymes borrows aesthetics and styles from Primitive Art to the Arts and Craft Movement, as seen in his fascination in materials and intricate craftsmanship.
The pineapple, a recurring motif in Hymes' work, represents an old symbol of hospitality, being used regularly since the 18th Century in carvings and drawings for its luscious beauty and exotic connotations. The animal heads hanging mid-air, trophies of celebration or symbols of death, present a duality that runs throughout the work. Whilst Hymes' objects operate as strange relics or homages to histories past, their concerns are those of the modern world, and Hymes urges us to make these connections.
The gallery becomes a site for storytelling. Sculptures imbued with borrowed aesthetics, history and cultural clich's at once honour and mock, whilst viewers are encouraged to create their own mythologies in the face of a reality determined by its physical artifacts.
Max Hymes studied at the Slade and Goldsmith College of Art London, and was selected for the Bloomberg New Contemporaries in 1998. He has since exhibited in Heart and Soul, Sandroni Rey, Los Angeles, 2002, Modern Love, Hobbypop Museum, Dusseldorf, 2002, Black Bile, Amagerlledvej Art Project, Copenhagen, 2007, Bearspace, London 2007, and No End in Sight, Polaris Gallery, Paris, 2007.
Private View Friday 7 November 6.30-8.30pm
Houldsworth Gallery
50 Pall Mall Deposit, 124-128 Barlby Road - London
Free admission