Angela Heisch: Burgeon and Remain

Angela Heisch - Sting, 2021

 

To the first UK solo exhibition of works by New Zealand born, New York based artist Angela Heisch at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery. I was really impressed by these lyrical, organic, abstract paintings whose visual language appeared to owe debts to both Georgia O'Keeffe (here), and Sonia Delaunay (here). Heisch plays with the formal elements, most noticeably shape, to create movement through swirling vortices of amorphous forms with just enough elements to be discernable as a variety of flora. These organic shapes are defined by Heisch's skilful use of colour. Heisch creates close, colourful tonal harmonies which evoke nature and its cycles - fresh greens and blues for summer, and a series of browns, oranges and purples to suggest autumn. These colours also enhance the palpable sense of movement in these canvases. The colours and forms contained in these paintings also hint at a sensory experience capable of transporting the viewer into other realities or consciousnesses, much like those of The Ten Largest series of abstractions by visionary Swedish painter Hilma af Klint (here). This was a really strong debut by Heisch. I can't wait to see more.

Rose Bush

 

Grassy Landscape, Single Flare, Fire After Rain

 

Installation view

 

Aware of the Puddle

 

In the Grass

 

Installation view

 

Diving for Pearls

 

Flares

 

Flares (detail)

 

Deep Climb

 

Cool Snip and Warmed Snip

 

Sting (detail)

Angela Heisch: Burgeon and Remain

until 2nd October

Pippy Houldsworth Gallery

6 Heddon Street

London

W1B

Angus Hyland & Marion Deuchars: Looking for a certain ratio

 

"Inside nearly every graphic designer and illustrator is an artist demanding to be set free." - Adrian Shaughnessy.

 

 

 

 14 Cavendish Square

 

 

I never thought that I would have another opportunity to freely roam the interior of 14 Cavendish Square again, let alone so soon after my last visit earlier this year (here), but once more I found myself in this lovely Grade II listed Palladian-style mansion in the heart of London nestled behind Oxford Street. The occasion was for a series of installations as part of the London Design Festival 2021. As a former illustrator the installation I was most eager to see was - Angus Hyland & Marion Deuchars: Looking for a certain ratio. It didn't disappoint. Both Hyland and Deuchars tread the balance between commercial work led by clients and the need to pay bills, versus that of fuelled by their own needs to create personal experimental artwork. I was impressed by Hyland's paintings - all geometric shapes forming sharp, intersecting angles creating dynamic tensions and relationships within the picture plane. They have a mid-century aesthetic, with a flat, graphic style created by smooth, unvarying layers of paint. At first glance I thought they were paper collages or screenprints because of their untextured surface. I enjoyed the sense of shape and pattern created by these geometries as they are similar in some ways to a new series of my own entitled Dazzle that I have been working on of late. Marion Deuchars' work here is really interesting too as it seems so different in spirit to the typographical and illustrative work for which she more well known. These works consisted of found pebbles and sea glass onto which she has imposed a series of markings resembling runes, constellations, glyphs, letters and symbols which appear to communicate coded messages in an arcane language like the earliest cave paintings of our ancestors. Many of the events and installations of the London Design Festival seem to be a lot of style over any real substance. This show was different. The pedigrees of both Hyland and Deuchars situated in this historic venue though made for a really engaging display as part of the LDF roster. 

 

Angus Hyland & Marion Deuchars: Looking for a certain ratio

Design House/London Design Festival 2021

until 26th September

14 Cavendish Square

London

W1