Iain Hales

Euclidean Display Unit

21st September - 6th November 2013 

For his show at the m2 Gallery Iain Hales continues to explore his interest in the slippage between image and object.  Playing with notions of display – inherent in the window space of the gallery – Hales takes on the space as a whole, remaking the rear “wall” of the gallery as the work itself. 

This rear panel is treated in bold graphic fashion, with floating shelves in various finishes that punctuate the picture ground.  These shelves hold a number of both studio made and found objects.  Viewed straight on, it is possible to read this composition of distinct forms as a single image; as one moves from this single point of view the illusion breaks down and each of its parts can be examined in turn.  These parts can be read in a purely formal way, however their specificity hints at a narrative that is always just out of reach.

Hales’ practice is situated in the non-verbal tradition of formalism, interested in weight, scale, form, texture, balance, arrangement, etc.  However, his use of colour addresses painterly concerns.  A sensitivity to material and a range of scale in the work creates further juxtapositions, suggesting reference points beyond these formal concerns, from architecture, art and design to more everyday cultural elements.  The works have a plural language, collaging a range of art historical references, including Suprematism, minimalism, and Arte-Povera, in doing so they resist classification.

Hales is interested in the friction created by the juxtaposition of materials within his work, from ‘high art’ materials such as chalk gesso and powdered pigments to rubber floor tiles and mirror. While there are evident contrasts in the status or hierarchy of these materials, he also suggests an equivalence within them, with the sheen of a rubber floor tile as rewarding as a polished, painted gesso surface. But, beyond the sensual qualities of his chosen materials Hales is also interested in their semiotic associations; these play an important role in prompting a response to the works, each suggesting a range of connotations.

In addition to the work in the gallery, Hales is showing two large-scale drawings in the studio and a large black pyramid (Untitled, 2013) in the main living space of Quay House.  He was interested in using this classical form as strange brooding interloper, much like the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey.  While obviously a sculpture again he is mixing the methods of sculpture and painting, using materials like handmade chalk gesso and oil bar, referencing work by Kazimir Malevich and Richard Serra.

Iain Hales completed his MFA Sculpture at The Slade School of Fine Art in 2009.  Recent exhibitions include a solo exhibition at COLE; and group exhibitions; A Wall is a Surface, curated by LeandaKateLouise; and SWITCH, curated by Phyllida Barlow at BALTIC 39.  Iain Hales is the 2013/14 recipient of the Mark Tanner Sculpture Award; as part of this award he will have a solo exhibition at Standpoint Gallery in April next year.