BASEL.- Von Bartha presents an exhibition by British-born, Berlin-based artist Terry Haggerty. Featuring three series of new large-scale works, it runs from 8 September - 27 October 2018 at von Bartha’s Basel space.
Expanding the boundaries of abstraction, Haggerty creates his own distinct visual language through the exploration of form and perception. He translates natural forms, man-made objects, and ambiguous shapes into engaging compositions that oscillate between flat and dimensional space. Using simple colour combinations, he stretches the picture plane beyond view, exploring both visible and invisible space. Through the confines of an outlined shape, multiple angles of seemingly contradictory form are viewed from a single viewpoint.
In a departure from his previous works, Haggerty reduces – at times completely eliminates – any linear composition to reveal basic structural and sculptural forms that explore concertinas, loops and negative space. Cut-out areas and ‘zig-zag’ shapes uncover both positive and negative elements that define the varying contradictory structures in a dynamic way. Appearing impossible to the eye – in asserting a spatial presence, yet distorting illusory perceptions – these almost architectural objects provoke new ways of experiencing three-dimensionality.
Produced with machine-like perfection, acrylic surfaces are painted on shaped wooden panels devoid of any mark-making and brushstrokes. By making these contradictions between process and application, painting and object, Haggerty forces us to question our fundamental preconceptions of medium and form.
Terry Haggerty (b. 1970, London) studied at the Cheltenham School of Art, Gloucestershire. He has exhibited widely at galleries and museums around the world, including Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York; Max Hetzler, Berlin; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; and MoMA PS1, Long Island City. Haggerty is the recipient of several awards including the FOR-SITE Foundation Award (2009), John Anson Kittredge Award (2003), and the NatWest Art Prize (1999).
Upcoming projects include a site-specific permanent commission, on the facade of 3 Glass Wharf, an eight story building in Bristol due for completion in September, as well as a solo show at Dolce Aqua in Italy from 22 September 2018.
