In Soft Errors, Andy Harper’s first exhibition at Patrick Heide Contemporary Art, the artist presents us a new body of work. Harper’s characteristically quick and fluid way of working shifts to a new set of simplified forms and motives, also integrating text and imagery from pop culture. His organic compositions contrast with Kate Terry’s geometric shapes, which the Canadian artist combines with ubiquitous materials such as concrete and wood.
Colourful plates, abstract forms and geometrical shapes take us into worlds of their own. Harper’s compositions are dense and full of details. No space remains untouched; precisely executed brush strokes, versatile marks and gimmicks occupy the entire available surface. They are never solely technical but they form the driving mechanism in his works: the play with movement, colour, depth, light and shade. From his early photo-realistic “grass paintings” to the “vegetation” paintings and up to the more recent series of geometrical and abstract works such as the “radial symmetry” and “mirror” pieces, the process of painting remains similar just as the pace of making.
Based on a membrane of oily paint that is wet and totally malleable during the working process, his arrangements are now much looser in appearance, the associations much freer. Harper goes even further by provoking a moment of chance when introducing spray paint and varnish - materials, which he allows to leave marks and even trickle off the surface. And yet, obsession and perfectionism are still perceptible and it is this contradiction of experimenting with different techniques and visual references, which makes his work so interesting and full of tension.
Andy Harper was born in the United Kingdom in 1971. He received his BA from Brighton Polytechnic in 1993, a Master’s Degree in Fine Art from the Royal College of Art in 1995, and a Master’s Degree in Visual Culture from Middlesex University in 1999. Harper lives in Cornwall and has exhibited extensively throughout Asia, Europe and the US.
Canadian born artist Kate Terry is known for her large-scale site-specific installations made entirely from thread softly breaking up the architectural structure. For Soft Errors a selection of Terry’s floor based sculptures will be on display combining geometric shapes with industrial materials such as wood or concrete in a dense yet open construction. Terry’s installations and sculptures are architectural intervention, a play on perception and ephemeral object at the same time.
Kate Terry received her BA from Manchester Metropolitan University and her Master from University of Guelph in Canada. Recent exhibitions include Oxford University and Newlyn Art Gallery in the UK and the Virginia Commonwealth University in Doha, Qatar. In 2016 Kate Terry will have a solo presentation at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum in Michigan, US. Kate Terry lives and works in London.