Patrick Hughes (artist)
Encyclopedia
Patrick Hughes is a British
artist working in London. He is the creator of "reverspective
", an optical illusion on a 3-dimensional surface where the parts of the picture which seem farthest away are actually physically the nearest.
, went to school in Hull
and and went on at the James Graham Day College in Leeds
in 1959. Later he taught at the Leeds College of Art before becoming an independent artist. He has three sons by his first wife, Rennie Paterson, and was later married to the author Molly Parkin
. Hughes lives above his studio near Old Street
, London, with his wife, the historian and biographer Diane Atkinson
.
He has been represented by Angela Flowers for more than forty years.
Hughes' early works were often playful, putting things back to front or squashing them flat, like Clown (1963) and Liquorice Allsorts (1960), setting words against images, like One Two (1962), or against themselves, like Tick Cross (1962). He explored visual oxymorons and paradoxes. His fascination with the illusion of perspective began with works like Infinity (1963), Three Doors (1964) and The Space Ruler (1965).
In the 1970s Hughes hung his investigations of perception and illusion on the motif of the rainbow in a series of prints and paintings, such as Pile of Rainbows (1973), Prison Rainbow (1973) and Leaning on a Landscape (1979). Later prints like Leaf Art (1975) and paintings like Realistic Paint (1977) expressed similar interests with colour.
His first "reverse perspective" or "reverspective" was Sticking Out Room (1964), which was a life-size room for the Institute of Contemporary Arts
(ICA) in 1970. He returned to explore the possibilities of reverspective in 1990 with Up the Line and Down the Road (1991) Since then, his reverspectives have been shown in London, New York, Santa Monica, Seoul, Chicago, Munich and Toronto.
He explains reverspective:
The picture surface of Vanishing Venice (above) is 3-dimensional, made of two pyramids protruding towards the viewer with the tops cut off: the bases of the pyramids are farthest away (flat against the wall). The two lighter rectangles which appear to be in the distance at the end of the buildings are the flat tops and thus the part of the image physically nearest to the viewer (see diagram right).
Hughes' reverspective is the subject of scientific papers on the psychology of perception, by Nicholas Wade and Thomas Papathomas of Rutgers University's Laboratory of Vision Research.
. He has written for The Observer
, The Guardian
, the ICA Magazine, among others on art, artists and interesting lives. A collection of his writings, Left to write was published by Momentum in 2008. The third edition of John Slyce's Patrick Hughes: Perverspective, was published in 2011, with a new afterword by Murray McDonald.
, comics and the absurdist theatre of Ionesco
and N. F. Simpson
, as well as the work of Paul Klee
and Surrealists, particularly Rene Magritte
, Giorgio de Chirico
and Marcel Marien
. The Leeds-based surrealist Anthony Earnshaw
was a friend and inspiration.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
artist working in London. He is the creator of "reverspective
Reverse perspective
Reverse perspective, also called inverse perspective, inverted perspective or Byzantine perspective, is a convention of perspective drawing where the further the objects are, the larger they are drawn. The lines diverge against the horizon, rather than converge as in linear perspective...
", an optical illusion on a 3-dimensional surface where the parts of the picture which seem farthest away are actually physically the nearest.
Life
Patrick Hughes was born in BirminghamBirmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, went to school in Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
and and went on at the James Graham Day College in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
in 1959. Later he taught at the Leeds College of Art before becoming an independent artist. He has three sons by his first wife, Rennie Paterson, and was later married to the author Molly Parkin
Molly Parkin
Molly Parkin , is a Welsh painter, novelist and journalist, who became most famous for exploits in the 1960s.Parkin was the second of two daughters, born and raised in Pontycymer in the Garw Valley, Wales...
. Hughes lives above his studio near Old Street
Old Street
Old Street is a street in east London that runs west to east from Goswell Road in Clerkenwell, in the London Borough of Islington, to the crossroads where it intersects with Shoreditch High Street , Kingsland Road and Hackney Road in Shoreditch in the London Borough of Hackney.The nearest...
, London, with his wife, the historian and biographer Diane Atkinson
Diane Atkinson
Diane Atkinson is an historian and author who lives in Shoreditch, London.She has written many books about the Suffragettes, and about Victorian women, most recently Elsie and Mairi Go To War...
.
He has been represented by Angela Flowers for more than forty years.
Art
In July 2011, Hughes celebrated 'Fifty Years in Showbusiness' with two exhibitions, a retrospective at Flowers East, and current works in Flowers Cork Street.Hughes' early works were often playful, putting things back to front or squashing them flat, like Clown (1963) and Liquorice Allsorts (1960), setting words against images, like One Two (1962), or against themselves, like Tick Cross (1962). He explored visual oxymorons and paradoxes. His fascination with the illusion of perspective began with works like Infinity (1963), Three Doors (1964) and The Space Ruler (1965).
In the 1970s Hughes hung his investigations of perception and illusion on the motif of the rainbow in a series of prints and paintings, such as Pile of Rainbows (1973), Prison Rainbow (1973) and Leaning on a Landscape (1979). Later prints like Leaf Art (1975) and paintings like Realistic Paint (1977) expressed similar interests with colour.
His first "reverse perspective" or "reverspective" was Sticking Out Room (1964), which was a life-size room for the Institute of Contemporary Arts
Institute of Contemporary Arts
The Institute of Contemporary Arts is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. It is located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch...
(ICA) in 1970. He returned to explore the possibilities of reverspective in 1990 with Up the Line and Down the Road (1991) Since then, his reverspectives have been shown in London, New York, Santa Monica, Seoul, Chicago, Munich and Toronto.
He explains reverspective:
Hughes' reverspective is the subject of scientific papers on the psychology of perception, by Nicholas Wade and Thomas Papathomas of Rutgers University's Laboratory of Vision Research.
Writing
Hughes has written four books investigating themes that parallel his art. His latest is Paradoxymoron: Foolish Wisdom in Words and Pictures, was published in 2011. His other books are Vicious, Circles and Infinity: An Panoply of Paradoxes (with George Brecht); Upon the Pun: Dual Meaning in Words and Pictures, with Paul Hammond (London, W.H. Allen, 1978); and More on Oxymoron (Jonathan Cape, Ltd. 1984) which investigates both verbal and visual oxymoronOxymoron
An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines contradictory terms...
. He has written for The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, the ICA Magazine, among others on art, artists and interesting lives. A collection of his writings, Left to write was published by Momentum in 2008. The third edition of John Slyce's Patrick Hughes: Perverspective, was published in 2011, with a new afterword by Murray McDonald.
Influences
Hughes was influenced by the surrealistic Lilliput (magazine)Lilliput (magazine)
Lilliput was a small-format British monthly magazine of humour, short stories, photographs and the arts, founded in 1937 by the photojournalist Stefan Lorant. The first issue came out in July and it was sold shortly after to Edward Hulton, when editorship was taken over by Tom Hopkinson in 1940....
, comics and the absurdist theatre of Ionesco
Eugène Ionesco
Eugène Ionesco was a Romanian and French playwright and dramatist, and one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd...
and N. F. Simpson
N. F. Simpson
Norman Frederick Simpson was an English playwright closely associated with the Theatre of the Absurd. To his friends he was known as Wally Simpson, in comic reference to the abdication crisis of 1936.-Early years:...
, as well as the work of Paul Klee
Paul Klee
Paul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, and is considered both a German and a Swiss painter. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He was, as well, a student of orientalism...
and Surrealists, particularly Rene Magritte
René Magritte
René François Ghislain Magritte[p] was a Belgian surrealist artist. He became well known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images...
, Giorgio de Chirico
Giorgio de Chirico
Giorgio de Chirico was a pre-Surrealist and then Surrealist Italian painter born in Volos, Greece, to a Genovese mother and a Sicilian father. He founded the scuola metafisica art movement...
and Marcel Marien
Marcel Mariën
Marcel Mariën was a Belgian surrealist , poet, essayist, photographer, collagist, filmmaker, and maker of objects....
. The Leeds-based surrealist Anthony Earnshaw
Anthony Earnshaw
Anthony Earnshaw was an English anarchist, artist, author, and illustrator.Earnshaw was born in Ilkley, West Yorkshire. His father, a watchmaker and jeweller, died before he was born. His mother ran the family shop until bankruptcy in 1930, when they moved first to Redcar and then to Leeds...
was a friend and inspiration.