Felice Hodges
There is in Felice Hodges’ recent painting a notable change of palette, in which gently modulated greys and whites, yellows and blues predominate. The intense hues that feature strongly in the artist’s earlier work are still here, though often solely as compositional markers and anchor points made from fragments of painted paper collage. Concurrent with the emphasis on tonal colour is a fuller exploration of pictorial space. This is particularly true of the larger paintings, in which shapes float and hover amongst veils and flurries of paint applied in varying degrees of transparency, with gaps in the proceedings allowing room to breathe. Felice Hodges (photograph by Nicola Bensley)
front cover: (detail) fully illustrated on page 11
Lit Interior mixed media on paper 153 × 122 cm
Hodges works rapidly, constantly sensitive to surface and touch, her process a fine balance between premeditation and spontaneity. There is a lot of drawing involved, both with the brush, and in grainy lines of charcoal and oil pastel, of a lexicon of loosely outlined circles and squares, arcs, columns, cropped ovals, arrowheads and triangles. Control and serendipity run hand-in-hand. For instance, those trailing runnels, and clouds of tiny droplets like so much scattered seed, might be deliberate or accidental.Decisions, as to
whether such incidentals remain, or are subject to editing, occur during the calm appraisal that follows each intense spell of painting. The artist has talked of her paintings as rooms, each ‘with the idea of a window’, suggesting an interplay between interior and exterior. Related to this notion is her long deployment of certain motifs: chairs, tables, vases and jugs, the stuff of domestic spaces. Though still sometimes identifiable as such, with reiteration over time these objects have become gradually more allusive, less fettered by unambiguous representation. And, in the same way that the difference between inside and outside in these lyrical, atmospheric abstractions has become imperceptible, such distinctions are perhaps no longer relevant. For the weather has entered the room, and the painted space become more than ever a metaphor for the artist’s inner life. Dr Ian Massey, 2019 Dr Ian Massey is an independent writer and curator. His substantial publications include monographs on Patrick Procktor and Keith Vaughan. Current projects include a book about St Ives sculptor John Milne, and a major curatorial project for Manchester Art Gallery.
CRICKET FINE ART LONDON requests the pleasure of your company at the
PRIVATE VIEW of
Felice Hodges Inner Sanctum at 2 Park Walk, London SW10 0AD
TUESDAY 1 OCTOBER 2019 6-8pm
The exhibition continues until 19 October 2019 Paintings are for sale on receipt of this catalogue. The entire exhibition can be viewed online at cricketfineart.co.uk
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above
B l u e o n Te rra c o tta mixed media on panel 30 Ă— 30 cm left
A ra b e s q u e mixed media on paper 140 Ă— 100 cm 5
above
B r i d g i n g t h e Ga p mixed media on canvas 30.5 × 30.5 cm right
C e l e s t i a l Ga rd e n mixed media on paper 140 × 100 cm 6
above
B l u e i n S u s p e n s i o n mixed media on panel 30 Ă— 61 cm right
B o rd e rs Wi t h i n mixed media on canvas 82 Ă— 73 cm 8
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10 | FELICE HODGES
left
above
S h i ft i n g to Fa w n mixed media on panel 30 × 61 cm
T h e Re p a s t mixed media on panel 30 × 30 cm 11
above
C h a m p a g n e mixed media on canvas board 35.5 × 46 cm right
L i t In t e r i o r mixed media on paper 153 × 122 cm 12
above
J u g i n Ne o n Ye l l o w mixed media on panel 30 Ă— 61 cm right
L a ve n d e r H i g h mixed media on paper 110 Ă— 100 cm 14
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above
C l o s i n g In mixed media on panel 30 Ă— 61 cm left
G re i g e mixed media on paper 153 Ă— 122 cm 17
above
C o m p o s i t i o n : Ma ro o n a n d Ye l l o w mixed media on canvas 30.5 × 30.5 cm right
Fa l l i n g ove r B l u e mixed media on canvas 82 × 73 cm 18
above
Two Ve s s e l s o n B e i g e mixed media on canvas 48 × 48 cm right
G re y a n d L e m o n mixed media on canvas 82 × 73 cm 20
22
above
S t i l l L i fe : B l u e a n d C o p p e r mixed media on paper 20 Ă— 20 cm left
In n e r Sa n c tu m mixed media on paper 140 Ă— 100 cm 23
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above top
Ho m e f ro m Ho m e mixed media on panel 30 × 61 cm above
Ma i z e o n G re y mixed media on panel 30 × 61 cm left
In t e r i o r w i t h A m b e r Va s e mixed media on paper 153 × 122 cm 25
above
Pe r i w i n k l e B l u e ( S t i l l L i fe ) mixed media on paper 20 Ă— 29.5 cm right
Re c o l l e c t i o n s o f t h e S e a mixed media on paper 122 Ă— 75 cm 26
above
Re d , G re y a n d Ma g e n ta mixed media on paper 30 Ă— 21.5 cm right
S l a t e a n d Ye l l ow mixed media on paper 20 Ă— 20 cm 28
above
C i t r u s a n d E c r u mixed media on panel 30 Ă— 61 cm right
C i t ro n e l l e mixed media on paper 140 Ă— 100 cm 30
above
S t i l l L i fe u n d e r C r i m s o n mixed media on panel 30 × 61 cm left
Re d S ky a t Ni g h t mixed media on paper 110 × 100 cm 33
above
S t i l l L i fe : C i n n a b a r a n d O ff - W h i t e mixed media on canvas 51 × 51 cm left
S t i l l L i fe : Me ta l l i c Ro s e mixed media on paper 140 × 100 cm 35
above
G o l d Ma z e mixed media on panel 30 × 30 cm right
S u n l i t In t e r i o r I I mixed media on canvas 60 × 50.5 cm 36
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Te r ra c o tta J u g mixed media on canvas 30.5 × 41 cm 38
back cover
T h re e Ve s s e l s mixed media on panel 30 Ă— 61 cm
Two B l u e s mixed media on panel 30 Ă— 61 cm
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