English artist Patrick Hughes’ paintings make an object out of the world as we see it- a type of work that he calls “reverspective” painting or combining painting with making objects. In his reverspectives, interiors of art museums, houses, and multiple buildings under crystal blue skies, are broken apart and as one moves around the picture, they fold together into a solidified space.
It is a trick of our own perceptions, as the pieces are actually an immobile, abstract sculpture. In essence, once could also call Hughes’ work sculptural paintings. Hughes painted his first reverspective in 1964, later returning to the idea in the late 1980s. They are painted in oil on board constructed with two, three, or four projecting ends where forced and reverse perspective are used to create the illusion of movement.
“When the principles of perspective are reversed and solidified into sculpted paintings something extraordinary happens; the mind is deceived into believing the impossible, that a static painting can move of its own accord,” Hughes says. “I hope it’s an experience unlike any other, in which viewers see the impossible happen. And I hope that they then think a bit about why that is. If lookers and see-ers experience the paradox and reciprocity of the world and themselves, they get a sense of the flow of life.”
The fantastic wire creations of Walter Oltmann seem both alien and familiar. The artist often calls upon the natural world and images from human history to explore themes of hybridism and mutation while referencing the rich traditions of South African craft-making. Born in 1960, Oltmann spent his childhood living in remote parts of the KwaZulu-Natal region, where he was first exposed to local handicrafts such as weaving and basket-making. Using wire as his preferred medium, the artist has become an expert on wire working and devotes himself to studying the influence of cultural traditions on contemporary South African art.
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