A pre-eminent figure in American contemporary art since the 1970s, Richard Jackson is influenced by both Abstract Expressionism and action painting, exploring a performative painting process which seeks to extend the potential of his chosen medium by upending its technical conventions. Returning to Hauser & Wirth Zurich, Limmatstrasse this September, Jackson will debut an interactive Shooting Gallery, the most recent example of Jackson's 'painting machines'. This installation work is based on the structure of popular novelty shooting games seen in fairs in Switzerland and the US. Activated by the artist, a paintball gun shoots onto a targeted canvas to create an original painting, whilst tiny metal creatures around the edges of the canvas are pulled by a mechanical chain. In addition to the installation, the exhibition presents a survey of Jackson's Neon works, preparatory drawings of the Neon series along with other works and a selection of his Stacked paintings.
Born in Sacramento, California in 1939, Richard Jackson's work is process-oriented and the structural aspect of his installations involves a high level of craftsmanship and engineering. However, the final application of paint is generated through an automated process which Jackson calls 'activation.' He often equips his 'painting machines' with a network of pipes and hoses which, when deployed, cause eruptions of paint that immerse the work and often the surrounding area. By harnessing imagery surrounding hallmarks of quintessential American life such as hunting and sports and combining it with a physically laborious and conceptually rigorous artistic practice, Jackson has produced a body of work that questions and challenges the structure of the art world at large for over four decades.
Press release courtesy Hauser & Wirth.
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