THOMAS HOUSEAGO

The paintings occupy the Aird’s Lane space. Their attention to qualities of light, celestial bodies andplant life underscores the restorative power of nature. Often a tranquil sea is depicted suffused withcolourful light and the scenes gesture towards new horizons, both literally and figuratively. Drawnelements, often found on flat portions of plaster or Tuf-Cal in previous pieces, are here elaborated andexpanded into vast fields of colour. Each one demonstrates Houseago’s interest in contour, line andsilhouette, as well as his ability to shift scale from the miniature to the cinematic. Houseago paintedthem in an open-air studio in Malibu, California. They depict moments of looking and reflecting – ofreceptivity. In an extension of this openness, they even incorporate passing detritus from theirimmediate environment – sand, dust, leaves and petals.

Only a lone owl, entitled Mystery Owl (Amani), occupies the Bricks Space. It is rendered inHouseago’s classic redwood – a material deeply associated with his adopted home of California. Theform nods to ideas of wisdom, originating in Greek mythology where the owl either accompanies orrepresents Athena, the goddess of wisdom. This contemplative symbol sets up a dynamic relationshipto the immediately of encounter portrayed in the paintings in the adjacent space.

The title of the exhibition speaks to a thematic engagement with art making and the passing of time.Collectively the works take us from dawn to dusk, from first light to the nighttime vigilance of owls.The show is accompanied by a newly commissioned essay by Ross Birrell held within a book containinga series of drawings, notes, pictures and song titles collected by Houseago while working in the studio.

Solo exhibitions include ‘LOVERS’, TANK Shanghai, Shanghai, China (2023); ‘WE’, Sara Hildén ArtMuseum, Tampere, Finland (2022); ‘Vision Paintings’, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels(2021); Royal Academy, London (2019); ‘Almost Human’, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris(2019); ‘Lovers’, Academie Conti, Vosne-Romanée, France (2015); ‘Studies ‘98–‘14’,Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Netherlands (2014); ‘As I Went Out One Morning’, Storm King ArtCenter, Cornwall, New York (2013); ‘Striding Figure/Standing Figure’, Galleria Borghese, Rome(2013); ‘Where the Wild Things Are and Hermaphrodite’, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich,England (2012); ‘The World Belongs to You’, Palazzo Grassi, Venice (2011); ‘Beat of the Show’,Inverleith House, Edinburgh, Scotland (2011); ‘Amy Bessone and Thomas Houseago’, Rennie Museum,Vancouver, Canada (2010); ‘What Went Down’, Modern Art Oxford, England (2010, travelled toAshmolean Museum, Oxford, England; Museum Abteiberg, Monchengladbach, Germany; and CentreInternational d’Art et du Paysage de l’Île de Vassivière, Beaumont-du-Lac, France, through 2011); ‘TheArtist’s Museum’, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2010); ‘There’s a Crack in Everything,That’s How the Light Gets In’, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin (2009); ‘A Million Miles Away’, ModernInstitute, Glasgow (2007); ‘I Am Here, Selected Sculptures 1995–2003’, Stedelijk Museum voorActuele Kunst, Ghent, Belgium (2003); Stedelijk Museum Bureau, Amsterdam (1996).