BOYD & EVANS – VIEWS
2012-07-16In the first decade of their partnership, Boyd & Evans made paintings from photographs in their own archive, spraying acrylic paint through stencils to create an even, thinly painted surface. Assembling disparate elements from different photographs allowed them to create new, mysterious compositions. Their paintings, while highly realistic, have a scale, composition and use of perspective that edges closely to surrealism; in these dreamlike pictures the air feels thin and time suspended.
Vision itself has been a longstanding concern for Boyd & Evans, with many works suggesting the conditions of seeing or being seen. Views 1 and 2 (1973) show in the first canvas a girl with her back to the viewer, looking out toward a group of people and some cars parked incongruously in the distance. In the second painting she turns, as in a photographic snapshot, and smiles directly at the viewer.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Boyd & Evans abandoned the spray gun in favour of brushes, but continued to be inspired by photographic imagery, with an emphasis on landscape. In a number of works lone figures are set within sweeping, panoramic vistas traversed by railroad tracks and asphalt roads, ubiquitous traces of human industry and travel. Increasingly Boyd & Evans have also shown an interest in pure landscape, devoid of human presence, a concern which developed while they were in Indonesia and the American Southwest.
Exhibition runs through to September 2nd, 2012
Ikon Gallery
1 Oozells Square
Brindleyplace
Birmingham
B1 2HS
