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Lot Essay
A monumental painting, Hurvin Anderson's Untitled (Livingstone Road), 2000, conflates recollection, imagination and history in a night scene that has an almost palpable tension. Exemplary of the London based artist's immense technical versatility, Anderson places us at a cross roads in an anonymous, enigmatic suburban setting. A narrow road, bound by fences, stretches away from us, disappearing into an infinite, velvet black sky. Atmospheric tones of warm and cool greys form intricately layered planes of depth and flatness, evoking the variegated textures of the road that contrast with the rich black sky. Indicative of the assured restraint that distinguishes his painting, Anderson has given us only the suggestion of a few trees, their delicate branches just visible against the enveloping blackness of the night.
This is not just a painting of great spatial depth, it is also alluring because of the complexity of its subject. Anderson's paintings often present us with re-imaginings of public spaces that have individual and cultural significance, and Untitled (Livingstone Road) is a strong example of one of the artist's favoured motifs of fences, grills, and gates. The delicately depicted fences also show Anderson's skillful negotiation of abstract and figurative elements within his work; a subject which appeals because of their decorative function as well as their darker circumscriptive connotations. This contradiction intrigues Anderson, for they operate both as an appealing pattern, while evoking distance and isolation. 'There is a sense in the works' Anderson has said, 'that one's mind is elsewhere, that even though I'm here, my mind is somewhere else' (H. Anderson, quoted in Hurvin Anderson New Paintings, exh. cat., Thomas Dane, London, 2005, p. 3).
A student of Peter Doig, Anderson begins his painting process with photographs, which normally serve as a trigger for his memory, or the ideas he wishes to express on canvas. 'From there I go about re-creating that place in some way. For me it's an entry. I kind of play with the photograph, reprinting images, drawing on them. Then I'll start a collage, adding layers' [H. Anderson, https://www.elledecor.com/culture/art-show/art-show-hurvin-anderson-a-68 764 [accessed 23 May 2013]). Small acrylic drawings follow, and only then he starts to do a larger painting. This extended, careful process of preparation enhances the atmosphere of quiet observation, the sense of disjuncture, which we find in Untitled (Livingstone Road). Fully understanding both the expressive and perceptual possibilities of paint, Anderson manages to convey the stillness and quietude of night with a near sensory clarity.
This is not just a painting of great spatial depth, it is also alluring because of the complexity of its subject. Anderson's paintings often present us with re-imaginings of public spaces that have individual and cultural significance, and Untitled (Livingstone Road) is a strong example of one of the artist's favoured motifs of fences, grills, and gates. The delicately depicted fences also show Anderson's skillful negotiation of abstract and figurative elements within his work; a subject which appeals because of their decorative function as well as their darker circumscriptive connotations. This contradiction intrigues Anderson, for they operate both as an appealing pattern, while evoking distance and isolation. 'There is a sense in the works' Anderson has said, 'that one's mind is elsewhere, that even though I'm here, my mind is somewhere else' (H. Anderson, quoted in Hurvin Anderson New Paintings, exh. cat., Thomas Dane, London, 2005, p. 3).
A student of Peter Doig, Anderson begins his painting process with photographs, which normally serve as a trigger for his memory, or the ideas he wishes to express on canvas. 'From there I go about re-creating that place in some way. For me it's an entry. I kind of play with the photograph, reprinting images, drawing on them. Then I'll start a collage, adding layers' [H. Anderson, https://www.elledecor.com/culture/art-show/art-show-hurvin-anderson-a-68 764 [accessed 23 May 2013]). Small acrylic drawings follow, and only then he starts to do a larger painting. This extended, careful process of preparation enhances the atmosphere of quiet observation, the sense of disjuncture, which we find in Untitled (Livingstone Road). Fully understanding both the expressive and perceptual possibilities of paint, Anderson manages to convey the stillness and quietude of night with a near sensory clarity.