Gary Hume
September 29–November 10, 2018
Berlin
Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers are pleased to present a selection of paintings and sculptures by Gary Hume. Thirteen brightly hued sculptures and four large paintings on paper present the viewer with immediate colour and curves. The sculptures, all from the series Wonky Wheels, are imperfectly round, wheel-like armatures rendered in steel and brightly coloured enamel. The wheels measure between one and three metres in diameter and are pulled and manipulated into shape by the artist, rendering each unique in form and character. The economy of line and slightness of shape means the wheels appear to balance precariously, vulnerable to the slightest touch or influencing action, teetering on the verge of a bumpy movement that could go back or forth, or result in a fall. Outside in the garden, one wheel is embedded in the ground, impeding its progress. Individually, the sculptures reference an imperfect wheel of life and, collectively, they conceive a carnival of time and a ‘wonkiness’ of both personal and historical experience whose narrative, though inevitable, is never stable.
In a second space is the single sculpture, Small Hitch (2018), a wonky wheel whose lower quadrant is partly encased by a cube of concrete. The wheel is fully stopped, or stable and ready to start. It’s a beginning and an end, a punctuation in time. Alongside the sculpture are four brass-framed paintings on canvas, works from the Modernist Paintings series, whose formal appearance belies their specific conception. For example the original source of Carapace (2015), was a photograph of a dust-covered New York Fire Department jacket and helmet, hung on a hydrant in the aftermath of the attack on the World Trade Centre.
