Shape and Water
Russell SharonMatthew Hawtin
May 3 - June 9, 2018
Margins, Acryilic on canvas, 48 x 48 x 6 inches
Galaga, acrylic on canvas, 32 x 34 x 8 inches
Linnea, acrylic on fiberglass panel, 44.5 x 43.5 x 10 inches
Whizzle, acrylic on fiberglass panel, 38 x 44.5 x 18 inches
Been Series, various states of coffee on canvas, 15" x 12" x 2.5" each
Fallout, acrylic on canvas, various dimensions
Fallout, acrylic on canvas, various dimensions
"Skim", acrylic on fiberglass panel, 45.5 x 44.5 x 10 inches
"Doubled, No. 4", acrylic on canvas, 31 x 58 x 8 inches
"Glister", acrylic on canvas, 66 x 64 x 10 inches
"Doubled No. 7", acrylic on canvas, 33 x 58 x 8 inches
"Hymn", acrylic on fiberglass panel, 45.5 x 44.5 x 10 inches
"Slider", acrylic on fiberglass panel, 66.5 x 20 x 20 inches
Born in the UK and raised in Canada, Matthew Hawtin studied Fine Arts at York University in Toronto. His first solo show in 1999 he premiered the Torqued Paintings series, acrylic paintings with ‘torqued’ surfaces that investigated the subjective and objectiveness of painting. This initial series and reductive aesthetic has been part of his creative language ever since. His recent work, the Torqued Panel series, is another evolution in this series. In these new works Matthew has removed the physical structure of the canvas leaving only a floating surface hovering off the wall. Using fiberglass panels as the painting support, Matthew once again explores the boundaries between painting, sculpture and design.
Matthew Hawtin's aesthetic language investigates painting at an intersection between sculpture, design and architecture by exploring the fundamental elements of line, colour, surface, shape and form. The work exists in a space where thoughts and feelings can live; as minimal objects of meditation that reflect the spectrum of our daily emotions.
The artist's Torqued Series started in 1998 as an investigation into the basic principles of painting - line, shape, colour and form - through the use of custom-built stretcher frames that ‘torque’ the painting surface. Each of Hawtin's subsequent series has it’s own technical demands, they all live in aesthetic parallel that blur the line between artistic disciplines. There is a determination to continually push the work forward through aesthetic variations, technical refinements and experimenting with new materials. Within this forward trajectory there is an overall vision to create art that is ‘other-worldly’ and in a sense, futuristic. A looking towards an aesthetic not yet seen or fully understood - a desire to go where no one has gone before.