Nau mai, haere mai, welcome to EyeContact. You are invited to respond to reviews and contribute to discussion by registering to participate.

JH

Hemer at Gow Langsford

AA
View Discussion
Andre Hemer's New Representation Part III, as installed at Gow Langsford Andre Hemer's New Representation Part III, as installed at Gow Langsford Andre Hemer's New Representation Part III, as installed at Gow Langsford Andre Hemer's New Representation Part III, as installed at Gow Langsford Andre Hemer's New Representation Part III, as installed at Gow Langsford Andre Hemer's New Representation Part III, as installed at Gow Langsford Andre Hemer's New Representation Part III, as installed at Gow Langsford Andre Hemer's New Representation Part III, as installed at Gow Langsford Andre Hemer, New Representation #7, 2016, acrylic and pigment on canvas, 1200 x 900 mm Andre Hemer, New Representation #8, 2016, acrylic and pigment on canvas, 1800 x 1350 mm Andre Hemer, New Representation #9, 2016, detail, acrylic and pigment on canvas, 1800 x 1350 mm Andre Hemer, New Representation #10, 2016, acrylic and pigment on canvas, 1600 x 1200 mm Andre Hemer,  Big Node #32 & #33, 2016, acrylic and pigment on canvas, 1200 x 900 mm Andre Hemer, Big Node #34, 2016, acrylic and pigment on canvas, 1800 x 1350 mm Andre Hemer, Big Node #38, 2016, acrylic and pigment on canvas, 800 x 600 mm

Using printing techniques and a scanner Hemer creates backgrounds by scanning (with the lid open) skies behind painted sculpture forms, mixing the effects of sunlight from above and LED light from below. He then paints on the resulting printed canvas (after masking) with spray, acrylic, impasto and oil, creating the two types - one where he emphasises of separation of the two spatial layers, the other where they slide back and forth intersecting each other.

Auckland

 

Andre Hemer
New Representation Part III

 

20 April - 14 May 2016

Currently based now in Vienna, New Zealand artist Andre Hemer seems to be building a successful reputation for himself in the northern hemisphere with shows and publications. With a long history of interest in digital processes and web communication that he exploratively blends with post-war painting technology, he presents in this his first Gow Langsford show two sorts of painting: Big Node and New Representation.

The former are characterised by impastoed stuccolike surfaces surrounding thick tubular (wormlike) bands with rounded tips where digital imagery peeks through; the latter by more spatially complex compositions where the figure /ground interaction is more complex and confusing. If you like modernist painting like I do, that means better. The picture plane is more integrated and modulated - mainly flat with the occasional projecting blob - without obvious illusory ‘holes’.

So one sort (New Representation) I really go for. The other (Big Node) I find too layered and screenlike. Too visually simple. How both sets are made is pretty interesting.

Hemer believes that the presence of the internet is such a powerful influence on the human visual experience that “we are caught between versions of things and are relearning to navigate a world in which the physical act of a one-to -one viewing is diminished. A contemporary world shaped by networked forms has led to new phenomenological experiences.”

While it is obviously true there are many ‘translated’ versions of things (ranging from electronics, literature, the printed image), the physical act of one-to-one viewing it seems to me is still dominant, and not about to disappear. Even though the degree of digital visual mediation is huge. If however he was to claim our listening to the world is diminished I think I’d almost agree. (Even suburban starlings now mimic electronic sounds). With seeing though, we still mostly encounter the world, of which digital processes are a large part, directly - even though there are also traditional epistemological issues to do with our senses and the data correlations beyond our bodies.

Using printing techniques and a scanner Hemer creates backgrounds by scanning (with the lid open) skies behind painted sculpture forms, mixing the effects of sunlight from above and LED light from below. He then paints on the resulting printed canvas (after masking) with spray, acrylic, impasto and oil, creating the two types - one where he emphasises the separation of the two spatial layers, the other where they slide back and forth intersecting each other.

The fascinating thing is that Hemer‘s work fits into the Gow Langsford brand well. Some of it even seems influenced by the kitschy colour sensibility of Max Gimblett; especially with the impasto paints that have a metallic sheen. We can also see an interest in brushmarks (vaguely related to Judy Millar), and in the runny gaps between swathes of colour, a hint of Dale Frank viscosity.

This is a really interesting exhibition, but despite Hemer‘s claims, the best works are great in a traditional sense - you enjoy them via their interlocking parts the way you would enjoy a de Kooning. He is not as radical as say a Bernard Frize with his community manuality and planned process. Damn exciting work nonetheless.

John Hurrell

Print | Facebook | Twitter | Email

 

Recent Posts by John Hurrell

JH
John B Turner:  Paul Hartigan and Ron Brownson visiting the exhibition of my work at the Bowerbank Ninow Gallery, 10 Lorne Street, Auckland CBD, 30 January 2020

A Thorough Look at Archiving Photographs

Auckland


John B. Turner


New Zealand’s Photo Treasures Heading For the Tip?

JH
Installation of Jonny Niesche's 'You Say Sfumato, and I Say Sfumato', at Starkwhite, Auckland.

Immersive Hazes & Flickering Horizons

STARKWHITE

Auckland

 

Jonny Niesche
You say Sfumato, I say Sfumato



12 May 2023 - 10 July 2023

JH
Brent Harris, The Other Side, curated by Jane Devery, as installed at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki.

Pop Art with Trauma

AUCKLAND ART GALLERY TOI O TAMAKI

Auckland

 

Brent Harris
The Other Side


6 May 2023 - 17 September 2023

JH
Colonial Road, installation view, Pah Homestead, Auckland. Photo: Arekahānara

Mokopōpaki Trio on Birkenhead History and Ornithology

Pah Homestead (AV Gallery, Little Gallery, Conservatory)

Auckland

 

A.A.M. Bos, Carole Prentice, Dr P
Colonial Road

 

20 April - 2 July 2023