Basel | ArtRegion: Basel - Oberrhein

von Bartha

Terry Haggerty

8. September – 27. Oktober 2018

Von Bartha presents an exhibition by British-born, Berlin-based artist Terry Haggerty. Featuring three series of new large-scale works, it runs from 8 September – 27 October 2018 at von Bartha’s Basel space.

Expanding the boundaries of abstraction, Haggerty creates his own distinct visual language through the exploration of form and perception. He translates natural forms, man-made objects, and ambiguous shapes into engaging compositions that oscillate between flat and dimensional space. Using simple colour combinations, he stretches the picture plane beyond view, exploring both visible and invisible space. Through the confines of an outlined shape, multiple angles of seemingly contradictory form are viewed from a single viewpoint.

In a departure from his previous works, Haggerty reduces – at times completely eliminates – any linear composition to reveal basic structural and sculptural forms that explore concertinas, loops and negative space. Cut-out areas and ‘zig-zag’ shapes uncover both positive and negative elements that define the varying contradictory structures in a dynamic way. Appearing impossible to the eye – in asserting a spatial presence, yet distorting illusory perceptions – these almost architectural objects provoke new ways of experiencing three-dimensionality.

Produced with machine-like perfection, acrylic surfaces are painted on shaped wooden panels devoid of any mark-making and brushstrokes. By making these contradictions between process and application, painting and object, Haggerty forces us to question our fundamental preconceptions of medium and form.