Paleo Fauvism by Alexander James Pollard

HOP Projects CT20 is proud to present Paleo Fauvism, a collection of recent paintings by Alexander James Pollard. The title of the show points directly to the playful marriage of Fauvism and Paleo Art, rupturing established narratives associated with Modern painting in a truly positive and imaginative manner.

Painted over a 12-month period in his east London studio the works reveal his desire to reconnect with a “clairvoyant” painting first explored by the artist as a pupil at the Brighton Steiner School in the nineteen eighties. Rudolf Steiner believed that painting could provide a gateway to something more than just a simple message. The methods associated with clairvoyant painting can be loosely described as a form of wet on wet painting, allowing the artist to intuitively tease out an image without having a rigid plan or relying too heavily on outlines or linearity to define forms.

Pollard transfers this wet on wet or alla prima technique from water colour (used universally in Waldorf Steiner Schools) to oils, exploring mythic and archetypal imagery that echoes repetitious and ritualistic art from varying time periods and histories within World painting.

A face, a Dinosaur, savannah animals, a fictional creature or hyperstitional objects such as the Piltdown Man skull emerge through an alchemical and experimental process, allowing the artist to draw new associations between seemingly disparate references and forms, moving elegantly between figuration and abstraction.

Pollard paints with elan, choosing to weave imagery relating to mythic subjects such as the Beast of Bevendean, the Australian Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) and the ever-present cultural symbol of the Dinosaur together as magical archetypes that ultimately ask us to reconsider the role and potential of myth in contemporary society.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of public workshops entitled, ‘The Clairvoyance of Painting’, as well as a publication that will be released later in the year. The book will feature a full-length interview with curator Linsey Young (Tate Gallery) and an essay exploring some of the themes and ideas within the exhibition by Dr Craig Staff (Reader at University of Northampton).