Susanne Hilberry Gallery

Opening for Patrick Hill’s

DIRTY LITTLE STONES

TO BE SEPTEMBER 24, 2010

 

The Susanne Hilberry Gallery (700 Livernois) is pleased to announce Dirty Little Stones, an exhibition of new sculpture, wall works and prints by Los Angeles based artist Patrick Hill. The exhibition will open with a reception for the artist Friday 24 September from 6 to 8 pm.


This will be Hill's first solo exhibition in Detroit. In this exhibition, Hill deviates slightly from his previous work of seemingly unwieldy, perilous constructions of concrete, glass, steel, wood and granite. Still concerned with exploring the juncture of two and three dimensional space, the new work continues to employ traditional sculptural material--wood and marble--juxtaposed with flimsy, ephemeral elements-- 8-1/2 x 11” sheets of paper and pages from pornographic magazines. Balance, tension and chance simultaneously reveal formal investigations and narrative.


Untitled (Hardcore DVD Review) is a mobile constructed of wood dowels, rope and paper all dyed in bright and saturated colors. The palette of pink, orange, yellow, turquoise and black (derived from the same fabric dye Hill has used over the last several years) borrows heavily from the colors of clothing (lingerie), accessories and sets from the porn industry. The colored sheets of paper are stacked on tear outs from the magazine, Hardcore DVD Review. Partially concealing the graphic imagery, they perform a tenuous balancing act upon the wooden dowels threatening to reveal graphic scenes. And, by falling--or being blown off -have the ability to throw off the balance of the entire mobile.


A group of works on the wall utilize pages from an 80's porn magazine along with common 2x4s and screws. The pages are sandwiched against the wall and screwed in place by brightly dyed sections of wood. The wood is positioned to obscure explicit moments within the picture and is fastened to the wall with screws in locations that penetrate orifices in the images. The placement of the wood creates tension in the denial of what is allowed to be seen and it’s relationship to what is emphasized through the obscuration of the “dirty” content. Thighs, fingernails, skin, hair, legs, hands, clothing, curtains and sofas become emphasized and thus become more compelling in their abstraction.

 

The works occupy (literally and figuratively) and explore the relationship between two and three dimensional space as well as between figuration (representation) and abstraction. Also being exhibited is a selection from a new series of prints related to an upcoming publication/print edition Hill is doing with 2nd Cannons Publications.


Utilizing remnant wood from previous sculptures, Hill makes wood block prints using black urethane rubber as the ink. The prints are done on sheets of dyed Japanese Masa rice paper and are stained with the same bright fabric dye used for other works in the exhibition. The urethane rubber is the material used in Hollywood and the sex toy industry, both frequently referenced in Hill’s work. The book and edition of prints are entitled Hot and Dumb. The prints are in editions of four but, due to the unconventional nature of the material and the individual staining of the paper, each print is unique.

 

Patrick Hill was born in Royal Oak, MI (1972) and currently lives in works in Los Angeles. He earned his BFA from University of Michigan and received his MFA from Otis College of Art and Design. Past solo exhibitions include The Approach, in London, Bortolami Gallery in New York, Shane Campbell Gallery in Chicago, and David Kordansky Gallery in Los Angeles. Upcoming solo exhibitions are scheduled for 2011 at Bortolami in New York and Galerie Almine Rech in Paris. Hill’s work was included in the 2008 Whitney Biennial and in numerous group exhibitions across the country and in London, Madrid, Munich, Stockholm, Vienna and Tokyo.

 

For  more information about this and other shows at the Hilbery Gallery, visit their website at www.hilberrygallery.com.


 

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