Paul Hosking: Emergence 02. December 2017 - 16. February 2018

Paul Hosking´s new works continue his exploration of the complex visual and psychological implications of mirrored surfaces. As in his previous coloured mirror wall works, the context in which they should be read is painting, but here, for the first time, he works combine laser cut mirror with areas that are directly painted.

These works compel us to look both at the mirror as object and into the mirror as reflection. There is a constant slippage between what is on the surface - the finely etched laser line - and what is beyond, in the reflection. The use of mirror, means that the work is in a state of constant flux, reflecting every change in it´´s environment, the light, the space, objects around it, the time of day. and of course, the presence of the viewer. Duchamp´s observation that the viewer completes the work is made explicit here. Even the smallest change to the point of view of the observer alters and determines what one sees.

Although Hosking´s work often seems abstract in character, it has always used specific references: silhouettes, Rorschach´s, camouflage, and now fencing. This latest allows us to see what is beyond but prevens us from entering. It is a visually fragile but potent barrier.

These works act out many dichotomies: between transparency and opacity, revelation and disguise, detachment and engagement, truth and fiction. the colours of the reflected surface remind us that this mirror, like all others, can never be a true reflection of the world. 

ACCROCHAGE | small classroom
Olivia Berckemeyer, Nir Hod, Michal Rovner, Elmgreen & Dragset