Paul Hartigan
the Infinities
12th June - 12th July 2014
251 Parnell Road; Habitat Courtyard; ph 09 3774832; www.ppg.net.nz
Paul Hartigan (b. 1953)
The Infinities is a perfect combination of the digital and the spiritual. Paul Hartigan’s infinity paintings of almost twenty years ago were computer files, printed on vinyl and made soft by the crudity of the then nascent billboard inkjet technology. This printing process was so imprecise that each infinity work, even though it was the output of a digital image, became an analogue original. Alongside these works on vinyl, Hartigan reprises some of the original Infinities, now cloaked in the digital exactness of 2014. The colours, once muted and muddied by inefficient inkjet heads are now bold and defined. The magic that the Infinities of old played on the eye is now less tricky, due to the clarity of the image. In a spooky trip back to the future, these new Infinities are more Pop than painterly. The Infinities constitutes an extensive meditation on form and concept. Infinity is a number that has no end; it is bigger than all of us; it has no bounds. Sometimes the canvas struggles to contain it; at other times it is part of a larger whole. Hartigan manipulates this symbol that stands for eternity: he camouflages it, blurs its edges, and stretches it, locating it in the kaleidoscope, the petri dish and the gene pool – the canvas is not only in and of the world, but also in and of the viewer. Hartigan revels in the classic beauty of the form of the infinity symbol: all curves, like the back and buttocks of a perfect human form, and that elegant cross in the middle. Follow it with your eyes and it does go forever – it has no beginning and no end, yet it never loses sight of itself. It is the void, but one which Hartigan makes perceptible. Grasping eternity may seem impossible, but The Infinities offers that potential.
Text by Don Abbott 2014
Dust Pigment on paper 800 x 800 mm, edition of 15, 2014
Spirit Pigment on paper 800 x 800 mm, edition of 15, 2014
Scape Pigment on paper 800 x 800 mm, edition of 15, 2014
Spy Pigment on paper 800 x 800 mm, edition of 15, 2014
Muta Pigment on vinyl 1820 x 1800 mm, 1999
Chromo Pigment on vinyl 920 x 900 mm, 1999
Virus Pigment on vinyl 1220 x 1200 mm, 1999
Tag Pigment on paper 600 x 600 mm, multiple, 2014
Mimic Pigment on vinyl 1220 x 1200 mm, 1998
Sonic Pigment on vinyl 1220 x 1200 mm, 1998
Spirit Pigment on vinyl 2020 x 2000 mm, 1998
Matrix Pigment on vinyl 1120 x 2200 mm, 1999
Spectra Pigment on vinyl 1210 x 1490 mm, 1999
1.
Dust
Pigment on paper
800 x 800 mm, edition of 15, 2014
$2,800
2.
Spirit
Pigment on paper
800 x 800 mm, edition of 15, 2014
$2,800
3.
Scape
Pigment on paper
800 x 800 mm, edition of 15, 2014
$2,800
4.
Spy
Pigment on paper
800 x 800 mm, edition of 15, 2014
$2,800
5.
Muta
Pigment on vinyl
1820 x 1800 mm, 1999
6.
Chromo
Pigment on vinyl
920 x 900 mm, 1999
$6,800
7.
Virus
Pigment on vinyl
1200 x 1200 mm, 1999
$8,800
8.
Tag
Pigment on paper
600 x 600 mm, multiple, 2014
$1,480
9.
Mimic
Pigment on vinyl
1220 x 1200 mm, 1998
$8,800
10.
Sonic
Pigment on vinyl
1220 x 1200 mm, 1998
$8,800
11.
Spirit
Pigment on vinyl
2020 x 2000 mm, 1998
$18,800
12.
Matrix
Pigment on vinyl
1120 x 2200 mm ,1999
$14,800
13.
Spectra
Pigment on vinyl
1210 x 1490 mm, 1999
$9,800
$16,800
Paul Hartigan remains one of New Zealand’s most intriguing and inspirational artists. He attended Elam School of fine Art 1971-73 with painting teachers Colin McCahon, Robert Ellis and Garth Tapper and sculptors Adrian Hall, Greer Twiss and Jim Allen. He is represented in public and private collections throughout New Zealand including Te Papa Tongarewa, The Hocken and National Library, Auckland Art Gallery, Govett-Brewster and Sarjeant Art Gallery; The Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, Australia.
251 Parnell Road; Habitat Courtyard; ph 09 3774832; www.ppg.net.nz