Literature

Durham Press is pleased to announce a portfolio of prints by British artist Hurvin Anderson. Titled Mirror: Don’t Look Back and comprised of ten works measuring 35 7/8 x 28 1/2 inches, the portfolio combines intaglio and relief collograph, screenprint, and gold and silver leaf. It is published in an edition of nine.

In Mirror: Don’t Look Back, Anderson presents ten different adaptations of a single composition: a circle hanging slightly below center on a gray flower-patterned background. This collographic floral motif appears in each print, varying in shade and line weight. The imagery within the circle changes more drastically throughout the portfolio. In one print, the “mirror” seems to clarify its surroundings; the circle features a sharper, more intelligible floral pattern. In another, the mirror has a transformational effect, with the luminosity of gold leaf contrasting with the relatively dull backdrop. Still others obscure the pattern encircling them, appearing as hazy orbs that Anderson has imbued with an almost otherworldly mystique.

Through repetition and subtle variation, the portfolio continues to develop themes common to Anderson’s work, such as the intersections of place and memory and familiarity and estrangement. Similar to his suite of paintings Peter’s Series —which was the subject of critically acclaimed exhibitions at the Tate Britain, London, and the Studio Museum Harlem, New York—the images in Mirror: Don’t Look Back fluctuate between abstraction and representation. Anderson employs a seemingly reticent geometric composition and largely unsentimental color scheme, but the title and the wallpaper-like backgrounds invoke connections to personal, intimate moments and to the home. The slight differences between the images further their elusive quality. It is unclear if the portfolio depicts ten mirrors that are alike, or if there is only one mirror that has been illuminated, obscured, and tarnished through the workings of time and memory.

Hurvin Anderson (b. 1965, Birmingham, United Kingdom) lives and works in London. His recent solo exhibitions include Reporting Back, IKON Gallery, Birmingham (2013) and Backdrop, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, St. Louis (2015), which is traveling to the Art Gallery of Ontario and will open this May (2016). Anderson is represented by, Michael Werner in New York, and Thomas Dane Gallery in London. He has been making prints with Durham Press since 2009.