Artist: Gary Hume

Paintings from the 90s

In 1999 Gary Hume was selected by The British Council to represent Britain at the 48th Venice Biennale. Twenty-five years on, and to mark this occasion, Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert are presenting some of the most important early works dating from 1993 through to 1999.

One of the significant artists of the ‘YBA’ movement, Hume’s monumental paintings composed from Dulux high-gloss paint were the staples of the seminal exhibitions 'Freeze' (curated by Damien Hirst in 1988) and 'Sensation' (Royal Academy of Arts, 1997). Radical for his ability to work within the tradition of painting, whilst reconstructing the genre’s rule book, the ten works exhibited present daring figurations of heads, bodies, flowers and objects drawn from popular culture and daily life.

The exceptional painting Tony Blackburn (1993) demonstrates Hume’s unorthodox and radical application of household gloss paint in the context of art. Included in 'Sensation,' its rich glossy border of pinks and yellows set the huge matt black clover in strong relief. Shown alongside other significant works such as Water Painting (1999), the series of which was at the Venice Biennale, the syrup-like surfaces are consciously difficult to pin down and act as an echo of Hume’s original source material.