Critical Review

Directions

The ‘drip-drive’ series by Aaron Hagan isn’t just an exuberant celebration of colour, but a rigorous examination of the process of painting itself.

The exhibition “Directions”, at the Bowman Arts Centre, presents 18 works from Hagan’s ‘drip-drive’ series. The pieces in the exhibition have been executed within the past 14 months, although Hagan has been working on the series for a number of years.

The visitor to the gallery is immediately struck by the almost overwhelming power of the colors in the pictures, bordering on overload. In the initial seconds, with the paintings encompassing your entire field of vision, a sensitive person may feel they are succumbing to the initial paroxysms of Stendhals Syndrome, but the moment quickly passes. The veiwer is left with the opportunity to reflect on the individual works, and interact personally with the pieces.

The drip-drive paintings are constructed by dripping paint from the four edges to create a grid. This grid is then obsessively filled with small swatches of colour. It is an arbitrary process for Hagan, as he responds organically to the slowly coalescing field of color on the canvas. Sometimes he explores the tensions between complementary colors, the unity of monochromatics or the push and pull of warm and cool colours. Decisions about the direction of the paintings are made as the work progresses. The end result is always a sparkling jewel-like surface.

The exhibition “Directions” is accessible and interesting to everyone, from the seasoned art veteran to the individual with no previous exposure to art. They are interesting as an investigation of seriality, where the grid motif becomes a matrix to explore an endless possibility of colour relationships, they are interesting as questions about the compulsive, labour intensive process of art-making itself, and they are interesting as a celebration of the seductive and sensory power of colour.

The exhibition runs until March 7. The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Traveling Exhibition Program has optioned to take the show on the road, and it will be touring the province in the coming year. If you haven’t seen the exhibition, find the time, it is worth it.

Lil' ol' me with 'Of All the Colors in the World' behind...

Flitter

This piece caught inspiration from the painter Gustav Klimt, who created loose patterns with many color swatches and used a lot of gold paint in his work.

Flitter (Close-up)

The Apple Dumpling Gang (Close-up)

Flying Over Zootown

Hidden within this painting is a plethora of mammals... can you spot the purple terrier, the green giraffe and the whale?

Kaleidoscope

This is the one from the series I refer to as my 'superman' painting... at least it started out that way, over the top... I subdued it quite a bit as it got closer and closer to being completed.

70s Suite

Look at the colors... what more can I say?

Veil

This is one of the last pieces I finished for the "Directions" show. I experimented a lot with layering to create a hightened sense of depth.

Of All the Colors in the World

As paint drips quite different on a strong canvas tooth as opposed to board, the result is a much more organic patterning effect. I wanted to use a more subtle tonal shift in this painting so I used a lot more pastel-based hues. This painting is the largest of the drip-drive series, measuring over 4 x 5 ft.

Connect

This is the earliest large-scale Drip-Drive from 2007... It measures 44" x 67" and was both a lot of fun and work to complete. I went a bit 'outside the box' to create some of the a-symmetrical shapes within. Thanks to my studio mate Troy Nickle (at the time) who supplied me with the surface, which he found in a back alley.

The Apple Dumpling Gang

Had fun naming this one... a throwback to my childhood... the old Disney Tim Conway and Don Knotts comedy. If one looks hard enough they might find a Don Knotts profile... well, maybe not.

Mosaic

This is one of four of the color-study mini series. Although I've incorporated a variety of hues, the yellow-orange prevails to be the stand-out hue. I enjoy how such variety can be included in a work of art, yet there remains a focal point or in this case, a prevailing hue.

Broken Water

Using a blue-green overall hue, I was still able to incorporate a variety of other colors. This is one of a four-part mini-series that illustrates color-relationships; there are strong contrasts, yet the blue-green hue dominates.

Bedtime Story Quilt

Another 'Drip-Drive' painting from 2008; this painting was intended to be representative of 'earth tones' while still incorporating non-local colors.

Chips Off the Color Block

This is a playful painting. It's one of the smaller works from the "Directions" exhibit. I wanted to somehow introduce many different colors but still have an overall feel of a red-purple hue. I think that was accomplished. It is part of a mini-series of four... addressing color-theory. The others are green-blue, yellow-orange and 'earth tones'.

Corridor

I initially wanted to make this a monochromatic painting (consistent variations of blue hues)... but, nearing completion, it seemed to need a little something to give it some 'punch'... so I proceeded to introduce other hues from the full spectrum. The painting become activated with the new hues. I called it 'Corridor' because the painting seems to direct your eyes along various paths or corridors, stopping on the swatches of color at times.

Grounded

This work is also from the "Directions" exhibit, on display at the Bowman Arts Centre until March 7th, 2009. With this particular painting I used the natural hue of the raw board as one of the 'earth tones'. Thus the masonite board is unsealed (no gesso).

Flitter

This painting was inspired by the work of Gustav Klimt, who used a lot of loose patterns and gold hues in his paintings. The shapes and colors seem to flicker around for me when looking at the painting.

Direction(s) Image 1

This is "Serend(r)ipity" A & B... a D(r)iptych... from the 'Drip-Drive' series, currently on display at the Bowman Arts Centre in Lethbridge, AB. This series has been worked on intermittently from 2005-08.