Matthew Hindley: Like, like, like, like a circus
In this body of work Hindley responds to the influence of his time spent in Berlin, taking on the monumental scale of the German master Adolf von Menzel. The scenes depicted take on a cinematographic reality.
True to his long-term fascination with cult-hero status and the power of pop celebrity, Hindley has titled the works with lyrics from pop princess Britney Spears’ latest album. Read together, the paintings form a lilting, uneasy dialogue – a multi-faceted narrative that is as lyrical as it is unsettling.
Hindley’s characters are recognisable from painting to painting, brought to life on his large-format worksurfaces to face different enigmas in each composition. Hindley’s paintings produce the strange sensation of being simultaneously watched and watched over. The viewer-turned-voyeur is caught witnessing private or intimate moments between larger-than-life characters whose story is underscored by a nuanced darkness. In the same disquieted moment, one is overcome with a sense of reassurance for the fact that this darkness is one that sits at the base of our humanity and a kind to which each of us can relate.
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Matthew Hindley - Blackout
Matthew Hindley
