John Hoyland - 1934-2011

Born in Sheffield Hoyland is considered to be one of the most important abstract artists of his generation. In response to the horrors of the two world wars he played a key role in exploring the possibilities of non representational art. Developing large (2-4 x 2 m canvases) Painting in acrylic or oil, his abstract imagery strove to achieve his ambition of creating 'overwhelming' works of art. These were created in a combination of colour and size of canvas. His approach to creating a painting was investigative, he would coax a painting rather than enforce a rigid idea on it, allowing the paint to do the work for him, in contrast to the more controlling techniques of the figurative painter. His early paintings were large-scale acrylic stain works which developed in time to more solid impassive geometric forms with explosive gestural marks. In his latter years his work became looser and dynamic in style.

'Power Stations' a current retrospective exhibition at the Newport Street Gallery, London. Damian Hirst is showing his private collection of Hoylands work (1964-1982). As you enter the stunningly white, vast gallery space, making even Hoylands immense canvases look 'normal' is breathtaking. Visually impactful, huge white walls cleverly lit artificially and enhanced by torrents of sunlight, light coloured wooden flooring. Whats immediately apparent is the simplicity of curation, no fuss or clutter, just the imposing, colourful, bold geometric shapes engulfing your visual senses, we are here to see the paintings, the NSG is the perfect facilitator. 

Gallery 1 (Late 1960's)

Gallery 5 (1971)

Hoylands earlier work leaves you with a feeling of naivety to the childlike geometrical shapes but the work develops by using a broader colour pallet, greater use of the palette knife to build greater texture into his work. As you journey through the two decades and progress through the galleries, for me Hoylands 1980s paintings are his best.Layering of colour, controlled drips, removal of paint and vibrant colour palette makes them magnificently impactful and not just because of the size!

 

I shall be 'stealing with pride' some of Hoylands techniques  and experiment on my next works. His use of multiple different colours as grounding - up until now I have just kept with a single colour, I thought thats what you did, but no!! go for it! By allowing the paint to run gives a directional pull to the painting, controlling the runs adds another dimension so this is something I shall also be playing with - To quote Hoyland " Let the paint work for you, coax it, don't control it"

Gallery 6 (1980's)