Chris Hipkiss : London in Europe

14 Nov-22 Dec 2012

Overview

Chris Hipkiss (b.1964, UK) creates large, fantastic pencil drawings of an imaginary world with landscapes full of strange plants, war-like female figures, and ruinous structures - something of the detailed landscapes of artists such as Bosch, Pieter Brueghel, Hogarth and Lowry. Their relentless detail invites the viewer to inspect every area closely. He delights in patterning, creating trees out of endless repetitions of a leaf pattern; an ocean out of one-eighth inch tiny waves; or a skyscraper with of hundreds of identical windows., rivers out of hundreds of calculators subsequently given the names of birds. Most of the larger compositions feature willowy women, but no men. These women are typically dressed in black tight miniskirts and halter tops, with dramatic eye makeup applied. If not based on black leather sadomasochistic costumes or the evil characters in comic; books, these figures are reminiscent of performers like Metallica or Black Sabbath.