The National Gallery of Jamaica acquires work by John Hoyland

Hales is delighted to announce that the National Gallery of Jamaica has John Hoyland's 2006 work, Reggae Days 5.5.06.

John Hoyland (b.1934 Sheffield, UK - d.2011 London, UK) was one of the most inventive and dynamic abstract painters of the post-war period. Over the span of more than a half-century his art and attitudes constantly evolved. A distinctive artistic personality emerged, concerned with colour, painterly drama, with both excess and control, with grandeur and above all, with the vehement communication of feeling.

 

In this final body of paintings, Hoyland carefully constructs the illusion of chance. Implementing techniques he developed over a fifty-year career, of throwing, pouring, staining, and flicking paint, giving the work visceral energy. The application of paint evokes vitality and life. For these seemingly spontaneous actions, he developed a range of sophisticated automatic techniques, stating 'with acrylic you can draw from the mist. The movements are almost balletic. You have to rehearse them.' These actions are repeated, developed and work as subtle signs in each painting.