Collection: ‘Destabilizing The Object’ - Hugh Byrne

Destabilizing The Object
Hugh Byrne
27.01.19

Bordeaux House, Franschhoek

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Hugh Byrne’s third solo exhibition with EBONY, ‘Destabilizing The Object’ presents his latest body of work unveiling hidden shapes and forms that lie unassumingly just below the surface of the landscapes that surround us. Combining bold colour, texture and geometric planes Byrne illustrates the tensions between geometry and abstraction, structure and dynamism in unexpected ways.

“This body of work signals a departure from my earlier attraction to flat, clean surfaces, which partly obscured my interest in the textures and other material nuances of the urban landscape. This, along with the desire to give expression to the tension between figurative and abstract elements, has lead to a body of work that furthers my experimentation with colour and form.

The process of completing the works has been one of trial- and-error; often frustrating, but ultimately productive. My initial dissatisfaction with many of the pieces encouraged a number of creative re-workings, which occasioned exciting, new forms: instead of stripping the canvas and starting again, I taped off the areas that I felt were successful and painted over what I considered problematic. This mode of praxis resulted in works that feature large areas of negative space, and isolated shapes with unique characteristics. I then exaggerated their individuality by introducing new mark-making and brush stroke techniques. By subjecting the canvas to multiple revisions via layering, erasure and addition, the history of the painting can be gleaned from its very surface”.

- Hugh Byrne, 2018