South Hill Park Arts Centre Bracknell Gallery, South Hill Park, Bracknell
27 November 2010 – 23 January 2011
Venue: South Hill Park Arts Centre
Published by A-N The Artists Information Company between 2000 and 2026. December 21, 2010
Derek Hill’s paintings seem to emerge from physical processes. Some evoke vast geographical forces, resembling satellite images of Earth or views of the moon. The eye finds traces of river systems, landscape contours, and the pitted surface of a lunar landscape.
Other canvases have a metallic quality, their textures suggesting surfaces shaped by hammering or other forms of physical manipulation. Yet Hill creates them through chemical reactions among oil paints, industrial paints, and solvents. The artist acts as a catalyst, setting the paintings in motion and carefully developing them over many months.
Experiencing these paintings is as intense and richly layered as the works themselves. Each changes with viewing distance. Up close, the textures created by the reacting paints are fascinating, revealing layer upon layer. Colours and forms contract and ripple with varying intensity. The surfaces seem almost to scuttle, receding and advancing like images in a time-lapse film.
From a distance, the paintings are equally compelling—except for Untitled 13. This canvas sits uneasily among the others, dominated by unattractive lines and discordant colours. I find it as unpleasant as the other works are exciting. As I try to understand why it feels so different, its lines become fixed in my mind. When I turn back to the other works in the Flaw series, I begin to notice similar thick lines beneath the textures and shapes. They distract me until I manage to tune them out.
It is difficult, however, to single out any one of the remaining paintings. Each has a powerful presence. Once I put Untitled 13 aside, the stronger lines give the other works dimension and structure from a distance, preventing them from dissolving into uniform texture.
A group of three paintings is displayed in the adjoining small gallery. Built up over lace net and flocked wallpaper, they feel darker and grittier. The alchemical process has both created and destroyed their surfaces, generating a tension that adds depth to an ultimately successful exhibition.
(Jane Glennie)
https://archive.a-n.co.uk/reviews/flaw-the-new-work-by-derek-hill/