Angela Heisch: Burgeon and Remain

3 Sep-2 Oct 2021

Overview

Pippy Houldsworth Gallery is delighted to present Burgeon and Remain, the first UK solo exhibition of young New Zealand born, New York based artist Angela Heisch. This body of work, including paintings on a new larger scale, develops the artist’s abstracted visual language with imagery that holds conflicting ideas of stillness and growth. The exhibition will be on view from 3 September to 2 October 2021.

Burgeon and Remain approaches growth in its different stages, rooting this exploration in a study of colour. Heisch’s application of pigment – whether in oils or pastel on paper – accentuates its physicality and ability to embody weight. Evoking atmospheric descriptors of pressure and light – such as density, dampness and haze – opaque expanses present boundless, impenetrable space, while luminously soft areas appear to drift off the surface of the canvas. Though Heisch delineates her forms intuitively, each relates to an architectural structure where lines and planes of colour provide a foundation upon which to hang or build upwards. These complex compositions bring together elements with conflicting properties – solid contours, soft gradients, delicate lines, sweeping stretches of colour, geometric shapes and organic, flowing forms. Each encounter generates a palpable flow of energy – at times, even a sense of claustrophobia, as its momentum approaches the bounds of the canvas. With the picture plane acting as a container, the image appears as an interior realm or psychological landscape, where diminutive circular forms seem to gaze back at the viewer. Located in this reflection is a stillness – a sense of calm that counterbalances the emanation of growth. Such playful contradiction is at the heart of the artist’s practice, with ideas emerging as unsettled or inconclusive. Heisch invites the viewer to respond with curiosity, presenting an open-ended state of possibility.

Burgeon and Remain follows an acquisition of Heisch’s work by Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, and coincides with the artist’s inclusion in Present Generations, on view at the museum until May 2022.