TERRY HAGGERTY
September 10 – October 17, 2015
Sikkema Jenkins & Co. is pleased to present a solo exhibition of new paintings by Terry Haggerty on view from September 10 through October 17, 2015.
Terry Haggerty paints lines in calibrated, monochrome color combinations on shaped wooden panels. With the simple gesture of curving the lines, he creates complex illusions that garner volume and depth. Yet, the viewer is also drawn to his paintings for their flatness and technically consummate surface perfection, which is achieved by applying multiple layers of varnish. These paintings easily toggle the dynamic pictorial space and their crafted presence, maximizing the impression of three-dimensionality.
With sophisticated simplicity, Haggerty conveys a wealth of spatial qualities. Twisting, folding, and holding, his lines draw the viewer through, above, and below forms, evoking varying shifts in weight and visual rhythm. All aspects of the surface are activated and empty space is shaped and purposeful.
The artist carefully considers ambiguous form and likeness to the familiar, exploring ledges, edges, corners and gaps which are subtle and important indicators that enliven and inform space. Haggerty’s painting practice is singular, yet he pulls from many eras, including the techniques of illusionistic virtuosity, formalism, modernist abstraction and minimalism.
In the current exhibition, Haggerty continues his shaped panel supports along with introducing a new body of work painted on ribbon-like aluminum structures. Referred to by the artist as reliefs, these new objects reach out from the wall. All at once we see folding and twisting lines superimposed on a physical support where visually contradictory realities coexist. Unlike the paintings which are viewed from one position, the relief works fragment and shift as the viewer navigates them.
Terry Haggerty was born in London, England and studied at the Cheltenham School of Art, Gloucestershire. His work has been exhibited widely in galleries and museums around the world, including solo presentations at the Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth; and Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. He is the recipient of several awards including the FOR-SITE Foundation Award (2009), John Anson Kittredge Award (2003), and the NatWest Art Prize (1999). Commissions include wall drawings for AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Munich Re in London, and private collections around the world.